Familiar
by fashionnightmare
Summary: Every 2 years of her life Clary Fray was brought to Magnus and each time she was made to forget him and everything he was involved in. But when she goes to a party with some shadowhunters why is the host so familiar and why is he looking at her like that?
1. Chapter 1

**Ok please don't judge me? Alright? Good **

**I of course am a HUGE Malec fangirl; ask anyone it's SERIOUSLY true!**

**But I couldn't help but think that Magnus saw Clary every 2 years of her growing up and she was the only human child he saw grow up so how could he not develop some sort of affection for her? Yes I know he is supposed to be gay HOWEVER we know that he is basically bi (Camille HELLLOOOOOOO!) and even though it isn't even a fraction of what he feels for Alec (3) it is still quite possible that he could still be interested in girls ALRIGHT? Cool :P. I also know he is distantish in the books but still he isn't heartless and yes I know he does definitely have a small sort of affection for Clary in the books but still I wanted to see what I could do with the characters and basic storyline the AMAZING Cassandra Clare provided for all of our enjoyment.**

**I don't own anything except the romance that may develop between Magnus and Clary :S**

**Hope you enjoy **

**Lots of Love and thanks for reading**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**

Familiar

Chapter 1

Magnus Bane was standing at his bedroom window that night in his silk kimono, his tanned forehead rested upon it listening to the rain as it hammered against the glass when he saw her.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a shadow flicker across the pavement and he straightened his back, his perfectly manicured eyebrows quickly pulling together. Quick as a flash his cat's eyes latched onto the hooded figure and he analysed them. He saw that without a doubt it was a woman; women had a certain grace than most men lacked. Following her movements he eyed her curiously as she hurried up the pathway towards his dwelling. He saw how she appeared to be holding something very gently her eyes kept darting to the object which to Magnus was obscured by blankets in her arms and he also saw how she occasionally threw frantic glances over her shoulder as she climbed the few steps to the porch, disappearing from his view as she moved towards the front door.

He only had to wait for a few seconds before he heard the all too familiar sound of his buzzer and he detached himself from where he was leaning against the window frame and sashayed out of his bedroom to strut over to his front door and pressed a button on the wall beside it.

"Who dares disturb the High Warlock of Brooklyn?" He boomed through the speakers, smirking to himself as he released the button and waited for the reply. He loved playing the bad guy, he took great pleasure in frightening his visitors, he never knew why.

But this woman did not sound frightened when she replied.

"Jocelyn Fray, I know it is late but I need your help. Please." Magnus was shocked by the pure desperation in her voice as she put extra emphasis on her plea; however her voice did not waver once.

"Very well." He murmured down the speaker and pushed another button to release the lock on the front door and listened intently as the he heard the sound of delicate, soft footsteps walking up the stairs.

There was only a moment of silence before a soft but sure knock vibrated through his door.

Magnus reached forward and pulled the door fully open and allowed himself to scrutinise this woman fully.

She had removed her hood and Magnus could see that she had fiery red hair which was pulled back into a messy bun but odd strands had escaped and hung limply across her face being pulled down by the rain which had gripped onto it. Her emerald green eyes did not widen when she saw him like most people's did, she simply raised one delicate dark eyebrow and cleared her throat just as the bundle in her arms let out a loud wail.

The tall warlock's eyes widened at the sound and he cocked his head to the side in confusion. A baby. He certainly hadn't expected that.

Shaking his head quickly to clear his thoughts he gestured for the woman to enter and she did. Her steps sure as she rocked the baby in her embrace.

Yet as soon as Jocelyn entered the apartment the baby ceased to cry and Jocelyn looked down at her daughter in shock before shaking her head in a manner similar to how Magnus had done moments before.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you this late Mr. Bane, but I couldn't hold it off any longer or I might change my mind." She spoke, turning to Magnus and for the first time there was vulnerability in them; the unmistakable look of worry and desperation.

"Think nothing of it. What can I assist you with child of the Nephilim?"

Jocelyn blanched and her eyes widened as her jaw went slightly slack and she looked at Magnus with panic in her eyes.

"How did you—?"

"The Angels Marks, they flicker when you move, most will not see them, but you see it is my job to pay attention to detail." Magnus spoke with a smirk.

She recovered from her shock and steeled herself for what she was about to do before she spoke.

"That is exactly what I need Mr. Bane; detail." This sentence confused the warlock so he tilted his head to the side as he moved to close the door behind him, his eyes not leaving the shadow hunter before him as she bent forward and placed the child on his plush hot pink sofa the blankets falling from the child and surrounding the curly red haired girl who had been concealed within them.

No words were said as Magnus moved forwards and knelt before the toddler whose emerald green eyes rested on the sparkly warlock and locked onto him wide in silent wonder before she extended the chubby hand that wasn't in her mouth towards Magnus.

Magnus leant his head forwards and allowed the child to grip one of the many dark spikes that formed a crown on his head. She gurgled in delight and Magnus couldn't help but chuckle a bit as she released his hair and clapped her hands together.

"She looks like you." Magnus commented with a smile and watched as his tiny cat jumped onto the sofa and nuzzled the blankets surrounding the child.

"That she does." Jocelyn remarked with a small smile but there was an undertone to her voice that Magnus couldn't determine so he decided not to press the issue.

Magnus stood and turned to Jocelyn.

"Now, what is it I can help you –"

Magnus' sentence was cut short by the screeching of the hamster-sized cat as the child's fist was clenched around his tail. The cat whirled around and raked his claws across the girls' hand and sped off as soon as his tail was released leaving a very distraught looking toddler who then promptly began to wail, her face going a bright shade of red but no tears fell.

Jocelyn darted forward and lifted her daughter into her arms cradling her against her chest whilst kissing the top of her head and whispering into her hair.

"Oh, Clarissa. My poor baby it's alright. Shhh, calm down baby." She cooed and soon the child yawned large and ceased to wail, preferring to nuzzle her head into her mother's chest her tiny hand gripping the front of Jocelyn's white button down shirt as her eyes slipped shut and all that could be heard was her tiny snores.

"My goodness, is she part banshee?" Magnus joked, rubbing his ears.

Jocelyn did not laugh but simply looked up at Magnus from where she had situated herself on the sofa holding her snoozing daughter.

"Mr Bane, it is of the utmost importance that you be honest to me. You know from which race I am from, that race is also what I have been hiding from for these past months and I want nothing more than to leave it behind me, I don't want anything to do with it, it nearly destroyed me and I will not let it get to my daughter. It doesn't even bear thinking about." Magnus simply stared at this woman, her eyes were strong and determined but her body language was hesitant and defensive as she clutched her daughter to her.

"I had hoped that she wouldn't have developed the Sight, there was a slim chance but I had hoped…." She sighed and bowed her head.

"But she does have the Sight." Magnus finished for her.

She didn't look up.

"Yes," She finally spoke in a small voice, "I discovered her teasing a pixie in a bush at the park today. I suppose I had always known that she couldn't have been blind to the Sight but all my heart and soul went into the hope that I installed in her being different." Abruptly she stood and walked over to the large window, the light from the moon being warped and shadowed by the paint and grime that he had allowed to artistically build up on the window. "Mr Bane I need you to rid her of the Sight."

Magnus' eyes widened. In all of his years, all of the services he had been requested for, this had never been required before. Magnus had never even heard of it being done. Instantly his mind went to the damage that it could cause if he were to try and do this and he felt his eyebrows pull together for the second time tonight.

_If I get wrinkles then this woman is going to pay._

"Mr Bane…" Jocelyn ventured.

"Magnus, please call me Magnus." He interrupted her, pinching the bridge of his nose between two long fingers.

"Magnus, you are not being honest with me."

"I have not said anything yet." Magnus passed a hand over his eyes and stood upright looking her straight in the eye. "However, I must tell you that this has never been done before, it has never been heard of in all my years, and trust me I have had plenty, I have never heard of this being done before, this could destroy her far worse than following her blood line could. This could destroy her mind, unravel it; it could devastate it, if this goes wrong she will never be able to recover from it." Magnus looked at Jocelyn intensely willing her to see the severity of the consequences if he were to even do one thing wrong, take the wrong turning (so to speak) young Clarissa would be lost in a maze of her own mind, driven crazy as she tried to find a way out of something that was closed in on her.

He expected Jocelyn to look horrified, to cry, yet any semblance of emotion he expected to be displayed on her face, in her eyes, never was. This woman continued to surprise him.

"I must do something." She said, clenching Clarissa close to her.

Magnus looked at Jocelyn and Jocelyn looked at Magnus, both of their gazes was unwavering; both stood their ground for different reasons.

"I won't do it." Magnus finally spoke.

"Why?" Jocelyn didn't look mad, only irritated, it was clear that she was warring with herself as to whether she should go through with her decision as much as Magnus was.

"Because I have seen what madness can do to a person, and I will not willingly inflict it upon anyone who can live a life without it." His voice was full of force as he moved to his door, wrenching it open and looking poignantly at the woman and her child.

Images of a body suspended in a barn by a thin piece of rope haunted Magnus' mind as he recalled the look in his mother's eyes each day she lived knowing what she had given birth to. The craziness grew and grew until one day she ended her own life out of guilt for what she had brought into the world and craziness due to the guilt that had built up within her.

"I know what madness is as well Magnus." She gave him a small grim smile, "I was married to it."

Magnus stared at Jocelyn and he had begun to wish he had never let her in to his life, she was beginning to delve far deeper than he wanted her to.

"I almost became it," She sighed and returned to the sofa sinking down onto it with a huff and looked up at Magnus with sadness in her eyes. "My husband was Valentine." She spoke slowly and watched Magnus' face intently as it changed from shock to horror to pity and finally to a grim understanding and shutting the door behind him once more he sank down into his sofa and rested his head on the back of it, heaving a noisy sigh.

"Well that must have been simply fabulous." He commented sarcastically.

For the first time that night Magnus heard Jocelyn chuckle darkly, but she still chuckled all the same.

"At first it was, my common sense was clouded by a haze of love. But as all things tend to do, its once sweet taste turned bitter. Valentine lost his sense of right and wrong and there was nothing I could do to stop him, to help him. I let him get lost and look at where that got me." She laughed once without humour. "Magnus I cannot let her be dragged into that world, it is not her world, and I won't let it be." She stared straight ahead as she let her voice reveal every emotion tumbling through her at that moment; worry, hurt, longing and a fierce burning determination.

His resolve broke and he groaned before shifting to sit right on the edge of the sofa clasping his hands together and squeezing tight.

"If this goes wrong…"

"It won't." Jocelyn spoke firmly and turned to him with complete trust in her eyes.

Magnus rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes and was suddenly glad that he had removed his makeup.

"I cannot remove the Sight from her completely, but I can, so to speak, blind her from it."

"What do you mean?"

"What she sees of our world she will forget even as she sees it. It is the best I can do." Magnus finished sounding hesitant.

"But?" Jocelyn prompted, causing Magnus to sigh.

"But, it will probably last at most just 2 years."

"Then I shall have to return here every 2 years." It was not a question but a statement, Jocelyn was saying that she would gladly return.

"Are you –?"

"Positive." She said and nodded her head once.

Running his hands through his spikes nervously he stood up and gestured for Jocelyn to hand Clarissa over. She did, and Magnus carefully plucked the sleeping child up and cradled her against himself as he paced the floor of his apartment reciting incantations, he had never previously had to use, and feeling power wash over him.

Jocelyn watched with apprehension and drew in a quiet gasp as she saw blue flames flow from Magnus' fingertips and engulf her daughter in a shimmering curtain of magic.

The rhythm of magic began to thrum through Magnus as he focused intently on the route he was taking, he felt himself touch Clarissa's mind and dug deeper inside, all worries melting away as he let his instincts guide him forward. He felt himself grow weaker but he let that become his strength; someone had once told him that Strength was man's greatest Weakness and Weakness was man's greatest Strength. That piece of wisdom was proving to be very useful at this moment in time.

Finally he found it, a bright white light blazing against the darkness; The Sight. Breathing in a laboured breath he filtered his magic through his mind and released it, forming a haze around the light, the curtain of magic knitted carefully together and there was a large burst of light which near blinded Magnus before it finally subsided and Magnus gazed in wonder at the Sight being withheld by his own magic. He had done it.

He felt himself laugh once, a high exultant sound. He reached forward once more and felt his own consciousness trail its fingers across the surface of the child's. Where his fingers trailed, burning marks were left.

Finally retreating from Clarissa's mind with the utmost care and precision he watched in his head as the image of the Sight became smaller and smaller but as he went he could see his burning signature left on this child's mind.

Soon he was completely in himself again and he felt his knees buckle as he fell to his knees, shielding Clarissa with his arms.

The magic had ceased to flow and he could now hear his own fast, laboured breathing and felt Clarissa being pulled from his arms and then gentle hands were on his face and holding his hands.

"Magnus? Mr Bane are you alright?" Jocelyn spoke frantically. What had she done,? Had this affected him more than he himself had anticipated?

One sharp laugh broke the silence as Magnus slowly opened his eyes. They were alight with joy which was clear through the exhaustion he had just put himself through.

"Magnus?" Jocelyn asked carefully.

"I did it." He said in disbelief.

"I knew you could." Jocelyn spoke with a grateful smile. "Thank you so much Magnus. You have no idea how much…" She trailed off as she heard small sounds coming from the sofa and she released Magnus' hands to see to her daughter.

Standing on shaking legs the warlock made his way over to the sofa and sunk down onto it with a satisfied groan. He moved his head to his right and looked down to see the young child nestling into his side with a contented smile his mother hovering over her with a bemused look on her face.

"Will she still be able to remember _you_?" Magnus didn't look up at Jocelyn's question. He gently used his hand to smooth down some curls which had fallen onto Clarissa's forehead.

"No." He said and suddenly he felt immense sadness but for what reason he couldn't determine. Clarissa lifted one of her hands and balled it into Magnus' electric blue kimono. Magnus smiled and reached down to lift her onto his chest where she settled into him.

"How much do I owe you?" Jocelyn asked.

"We do not know how long this will last, so until we know _that_ you owe me nothing. We shall discuss those issues next time we meet." Magnus grunted as he stood with Clarissa in his arms and made his way over to his front door.

Placing a gentle kiss on her forehead he attempted to remove her from himself, but her little grip was not faltering. Smirking he used one hand to gently loosen her grip but she simply gripped Magnus' finger and he felt his heart swell.

"Go on Clary-Beary back to mummy now." He murmured past the lump in his throat into her mass of ginger curls and, with some help from Jocelyn, Clarissa returned to her mothers' arms her little arms looped around Jocelyn's thin neck and her head rested on her shoulder.

"Clary-Beary?" Jocelyn joked with a smirk.

"Not a word." Magnus said with an air of false indignation.

Jocelyn smiled and leant up on her tiptoes to kiss Magnus on his tanned cheek. Magnus smiled down at her before they said their farewells.

As Magnus stood in his doorway watching Jocelyn walk away he kept his eyes on the child and he marvelled, not for the first time in his life, at how beautiful and tender humans were.

So as he watched Jocelyn disappear out of his sight he whispered to himself.

"Goodbye little one." And retreated into his apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hiiiiiiiii! It's me again!**

**I just want to start by thanking everyone who read this fic! Already I have:**

**4 "favourite story"s (Courtesy of **_**Trojanmom**_**, **_**mbrattoo**_**, **_**angelsdagger **_**and **_**changing-and-moving**_**). So thank you sooooo much and I hope you don't mind me mentioning you (if you do just let me know!)**

**4 "story alert"s (Courtesy of **_**mbrattoo**_**, **_**Midnight Candle, Frances Carlisle**_** and **_**changing-and-moving.**_**)**

**1 "favourite author" (Thanks to **_**angelsdagger.**_**)**

**And I got a lovely review from **_**mbrattoo**_** on its first day and early the next morning I got another review from **_**djrocks**_** and later on another from **_**angelsdgger**_** and **_**Frances Carlisle**_**!**

**Thank you sooooo much for reading and I hope that you all enjoy this next chapter :D (Just F.Y.I, I am neglecting my Vampire Diaries and Glee fics just because I am sooooo loving writing this one :P )**

**Please Review! PRETTTTYYYYYYY PPPPLLLLEEEAAASSSEEEEEEEEE!**

**Love from,**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**

**My ideal song for moment Magnus sees Clarissa on his porch until the end of the scene is Human – Civil Twilight; it just really represents Magnus' inner turmoil due to his affection for Clary and the lyrics are endlessly beautiful and I think they are totally relatable to Magnus and Clary in this story. You know, his love for her despite how young she is and how he is a warlock and she is a shadow hunter and how Jocelyn REALLY won't want this to happen and anyway Clary won't even be able to see Magnus so it's really sad for him :'( ….. BREATHE.**

**Anyway you should listen to the song it's beautiful and Civil Twilight are AMAZING! **

**http:/ www. /watch?v=-O5kflDCWN4**

**(Remove the spaces and search it, go on DO IT!)**

**On with the story **

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><p><span>Chapter 2<span>

It had been two years; two long years, since that day. Far too long in Magnus' opinion. He had tried – with difficulty – not to count the days until he could see Clarissa again. He knew he was being foolish, but something about that small child ignited something inside of him, he felt like he had to protect her from the world, from everything, and what surprised him the most was that he _wanted_ to; he had never wanted to protect another person other than himself in a very long time.

He had gradually allowed himself to be distracted, after all, being the High Warlock of Brooklyn didn't allow him to have a lot of spare time. Eventually he had become so busy that, only during long periods of relaxation, he would picture the young child with eyes so much like her mothers' but with so much innocence within them. Magnus prayed that the innocence never left those eyes; it was what made her pure. Purity was so rare these days.

As it was, Magnus was striding through Brooklyn returning from what had been a supposedly "urgent" matter. It transpired that the woman who had begged Magnus to come straight away had needed him to heal her sick poodle. Magnus wasn't pleased.

He stripped off his white leather gloves and shoved them into the pockets of his long, lime green coat which buttoned down to the waist then flowed out behind him revealing his favourite pair of rainbow coloured skin tight leather trousers. His knee high black vinyl boots covered the bottom half of his trousers as the tiny heels on them clip clopped against the concrete pavement.

The wind was vicious today and Magnus had not styled his hair, so it flew around his face, ebony, silky and poker straight, he had minimal makeup on, eyeliner smudged all around his eyes and clear lip-gloss. But what he lacked in makeup he made up for in glitter, his entire body shimmered as the glitter rained down with the slightest movement. As it was, the wind was lifting the glitter off his skin and was twirling it in the air before his own eyes.

Frustrated by the wind Magnus flicked his wrist and a cone of calm settled around him, the blustery weather did not affect him as he marched towards his home.

Rounding the corner he stopped dead. He would have noticed her from miles away, the woman with frizzy cluster of red curls sat on the steps of his porch a young girl sat on her knee and they seemed to be talking animatedly. Well as animatedly you could talk with a 3 year old.

The Warlock quickly did some mental maths and concluded that yes 2 years had indeed passed and it was time for Clarissa to have the spell performed upon her again. He felt a wave of happiness wash over him and, gulping, he set towards the steps.

As he neared, Jocelyn turned her head at the sound of his footsteps and smiled up at him.

She tapped her daughter on the shoulder and pointed towards the approaching Warlock, who frowned at Jocelyn.

_But she can't see me. The spell must have worn off._

As if the world had suddenly become slow motion, Magnus saw Clarissa turn her small head towards him and her eyes slowly widened in shock at the appearance of the man before her.

When he reached the steps on shaking legs he crouched down beside them.

"Clarissa, I told you about Magnus." Magnus vaguely heard Jocelyn speak kindly to her daughter.

Magnus only had eyes for Clarissa.

She was still looking at him attentively but her head was cocked to the side in concentration and her thin eyebrows were pulled together slightly.

Hesitantly she reached forward and Magnus felt his heart ricochet off his ribs. This wrenched up a single memory.

_No words were said as Magnus moved forwards and knelt before the toddler whose emerald green eyes rested on the sparkly warlock and locked onto him wide in silent wonder before she extended the chubby hand that wasn't in her mouth towards Magnus. _

_Magnus leant his head forwards and allowed the child to grip one of the many dark spikes that formed a crown on his head. She gurgled in delight and Magnus couldn't help but chuckle a bit as she released his hair and clapped her hands together._

He slowly moved his head forward, always keeping eye contact with Clarissa. He felt it as her small hands touched his glossy locks and ran a delicate hand through them. Her fingers ran from the top of his head to the bottom of one lock of hair and almost as if she was testing herself she gently rested her fingertips on Magnus' cheek. The warlock's eyes widened fractionally at the action and he felt his breathing become shallower. Her soft fingers ghosted over his skin around his eyes, gently resting on his eyelids causing Magnus to close his eyes as she caressed the skin there and Magnus felt as if there were burning tracks where her fingers had grazed his skin.

Too soon she pulled her hand away and Magnus opened his eyes slowly. A small smile lit her beautiful face before she whispered a single word, still gazing into Magnus' eyes.

"Meow."

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><p>Clarissa was now sitting on Magnus' hot pink sofa and the warlock had to stop for a minute and take a calming breath as he recalled the memories that had been with him for 2 years.<p>

_She bent forward and placed the child on his plush hot pink sofa, the blankets falling from the child and surrounding the curly red haired girl who had been concealed within them._

Jocelyn had received a phone call from someone and had left the room to take it. A name had been mentioned but Magnus – in all honesty – couldn't have cared less.

"Mr Magnus?" Clarissa asked timidly.

Magnus smiled and knelt before Clarissa in the same way he had done before and felt his stomach flip uneasily at the symmetry of the situation.

"Yes little one?"

"How are you so sparkly?" Clarissa spoke to Magnus in her small voice that sent shivers down his spine.

"Oh, but that's a secret." Magnus spoke in a quiet whisper, grinning all of the time.

Clarissa pouted and looked at Magnus through her long eyelashes. The once unflappable warlock was – for a lack of a better word – _flapped_.

Swiftly recovering himself, he lent down and spoke to the little girl in a conspirators whisper.

"But, if you are nice to me you may find out."

"Really?" Clarissa asked brightly, grinning from ear to ear showing gaps where she had lost teeth.

"Really." Magnus spoke with a smile and tugged once on a long curl causing Clarissa to break out in peals of giggles.

"You're funny."

"I know." Magnus said matter-of-factly making Clarissa laugh even more.

Soon Clarissa had calmed herself and she looked at Magnus again.

"Please tell me."

"Oh, fine." Magnus caved and leaned in close whispering to her, "It's because I'm magical." Magnus revealed mystically wiggling his fingers at Clarissa before reaching forward and tickling her sides playfully earning a high giggle.

In the distance Magnus heard a small plaintive whine. Chairman Meow slunk into view and froze when he saw who was sitting on the sofa. It seemed that even the cat recognized that fiery head of hair as he hissed and sped off into the kitchen.

"What is wrong with kitty?" Clarissa asked, actually looking hurt.

"Nothing Clary-Beary he just isn't very friendly." He reached forward and brushed some curls from her forehead.

Clarissa smiled brilliantly at the nickname.

"I like that."

"Like what little one?"

"What you just called me." She said.

"Really? Clary-Beary?" He sounded utterly baffled.

"Yep." She grinned again and Magnus had to remind himself to breathe.

During this gap in their conversation Jocelyn entered the room, greeting Magnus with a wary smile because, behind her followed a tall man with messy brown hair and crystal blue eyes that hid behind his glasses. He seemed fairly muscular under his flannel t-shirt and worn down jeans and he was fairly tall. However, compared to Magnus he was positively dwarf-like.

Magnus wasn't fooled y his mundane appearance; he could smell the unmistakable stench of wolf.

"My, my! What do we have here?" Magnus asked rhetorically a single eyebrow raised as he stood to his full height a few heads taller than the man.

Stepping forward he and extended a calloused hand towards Magnus. The Warlock grudgingly took it and they shook hands.

"Luke Garroway." He man introduced himself.

"Hmm. A Child of the Moon I see."

Luke didn't look shocked, only shrugged and Magnus was vaguely stunned to see that the light caught his skin in odd ways.

"Previously a Child of the Nephilim." Magnus mused, his eyes tracing the scars left from the Angels Marks that graced his neck and arms. Yet again Luke seemed unfazed.

"Uncle Luke! Uncle Luke, Magnus sparkles look how Magnus sparkles!" Clarissa exclaimed pointing to Magnus who grinned at the child.

"I can see that Clarissa." Luke also smiled down at the child.

"It's because he's magical! He told me so!"

Jocelyn shot Magnus a look but he only looked back evenly.

"Soon it shall be forgotten, I saw no harm in playing along."

"Very well." Jocelyn said hesitantly. "It's getting late Magnus maybe we should do this quickly, I don't want to be in your way for too long."

Magnus was about to assure her that it was no trouble when the damn wolf interrupted him.

"So this," Luke gestured to Magnus, in reference to the spell "this will only last 2 years?"

"It appears so. Has she been seeing anything of our world earlier than we anticipated?" Magnus voiced his question to Jocelyn who shook her head after some thought. Clarissa all the while was watching the exchange with a very confused look on her adorable face.

"Not that I've noticed; no."

"Then yes 2 years is indeed how long it lasts." Magnus informed Luke.

"But if she is to forget everything to do with our world as she sees it, how can she see her own mother, or – or me?" Luke seemed utterly confused as he turned to Magnus.

"I have wondered about that as well." Jocelyn spoke up.

"Well, so to speak, you both are normal…" Magnus said breathing deep, trying to force his sadness down. He watched as Jocelyn and Luke shared a confused look, so he carried on. "…compared to a pixie, or a faerie. People look at you and they don't see anything other than human. You need no glamour to hide yourselves because there is nothing to be hidden. You are as human as anyone in our world can get. So that is why she can see you. However, if you were to glamour yourselves, she would not be able to see you because the Sight no longer is free to act within her. She would be blinded by a glamour as any human would."

"That is why she can't see you then." Jocelyn stated in a quiet voice that sounded almost sympathetic.

"Yes. That is exactly why she can't see me." He paused and felt a bubble of sorrow rise within him. "Because I'm not normal."

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><p><strong>Awwwwww poor Magnus :'(<strong>

**Oh well PLEASE tell me what you think. The rest of this "meeting" will be in the next chapter which I am in the process of writing now; I just thought that this was a good place to split it as it was getting FAR too long ;)**

**Thank you SOOOOO MUCH for reading and PLEASE review, it means so much to me to hear what you think.**

**Lots of love from**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**


	3. Chapter 3

** Here I am again. :D**

**Wow two updates in one day I am WORN OUT :P **

**I am making up for the fact that I will be out all day tomorrow, I am going to watch my sister play polo ( I know, I feel totally Yah! I fell like i belong in Gap Yah :S) and the next day, I am going to the dentist with my mum (she doesn't like the dentist :/ )and then visiting a friend, so I will not be writing anything for those two days.**

**I apologise but I can't do anything to help it :(**

**Please don't leave me if I don't update soon enough :'(**

**Lots of love is sent your way**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter :P**

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><p><span>Chapter 3<span>

No one contradicted Magnus because they knew that it was true; he wasn't normal.

"Let's get this over with." Magnus said, his voice was low and thick with emotion.

The warlock shed his lime green coat to show his black dress shirt under a silver and black pinstripe vest, draping it over the closet armchair.

Rolling his shirt sleeves up to the elbows he subtly sent a sleeping spell over his shoulder and felt it in his body as it connected with the child.

Jocelyn let out a shocked noise as her daughter slumped against her side.

"What was that for?" Luke asked angrily but Magnus didn't look at him when he spoke.

"It is easier for me to weave through her mind if she isn't conscious, she can't fight me then. After all, this is a very invasive process and most are not comfortable with it. Fighting me will only cause her more harm."

Jocelyn sat, rooted to the spot in shock and Luke frowned, it appeared his instincts were warring with him but he stayed where he was.

All emotion had suddenly left Magnus' voice, he had shut down emotionally and when he turned back to Jocelyn his eyes were devoid of their usual vibrancy and seemed flat and strangely cold.

"Hand me Clarissa." He ordered.

_Clarissa._ He didn't use any endearment. He had never called her by her full name before.

Jocelyn obeyed his order passing her sleeping daughter and not looking Magnus in the eye, feeling totally confused at his sudden formality.

Magnus held Clarissa much in the same way he had that first time their fronts pressed together and Clarissa's head rested on Magnus' shoulder her hair trailing down her back. Her hands were looped loosely around his neck her gentle breathing the only thing Magnus was listening to.

Magnus focused on his own breathing, keeping it in time with Clarissa's. He felt her tiny heartbeat gradually beat in synchronisation with his and then he let the familiar warmth spread from his very core and unfurl itself, warming his entire body and wrapping itself around him like a soft blanket.

He then felt, that deep within his very core, something else was binding itself to him. Another person was being engulfed by his magic and he felt as if for that one moment they were the same person. They weren't different at all; species didn't matter in that moment. So he felt his way deeper into her consciousness and gripped onto her mind. Again he saw it; the Sight. It was a bright white orb floating before him and on it were traced two letters.

_M.B_

The last time he had seen Clarissa he had signed her mind and his signature still rested on her mind and endless reminder of what he had done.

_He reached forward once more and felt his own consciousness trail its fingers across the surface of the child's. Where his fingers trailed, burning marks were left._

_Finally retreating from Clarissa's mind with the utmost care and precision he watched in his head as the image of the Sight became smaller and smaller but as he went he could see his burning signature left on this child's mind. _

Heaving a heavy breath, he pushed all of his energy forwards and channelled the blue flames forward as they licked their way slowly up the Sight and meshed together to form a twinkling curtain. His own memories of the previous time he performed this spell came flooding back to him, and it was as if he was living them again as he watched the blinding light increase and flood his senses before blinking out, only a blue light washing over him as if there was light being shone through water as it rippled and pulsed. The Sight was being subdued by his own magic.

Magnus felt physically exhausted. His legs ached, his arms ached, even his head ached as a dull throb began to pound in the base of his skull.

Yet, compared to last time, he felt amazing. He knew that after this he was going to sleep for days much like last time when rumours began to circulate that he was dead, due to his absence from the partying panorama.

But he didn't care.

Slowly backtracking once more from his safe haven, Magnus felt his legs shake and with a deep, gasping breath he was completely out of Clarissa's mind.

Magnus felt something cold run down his face and gradually realised that he was sweating. He opened his eyes and lifted one quivering hand to wipe his forehead.

Clarissa remained sleeping on his shoulder until Jocelyn; moving forwards, gently pulled Clarissa from his arms.

Without her small weight to balance himself with, Magnus stumbled slightly backwards until strong hands rested on his lower back steadying him.

"Are you all right boy?" Luke asked his voice low and concerned.

Magnus nodded and allowed himself to be led to the armchair where his coat was draped over. In all honesty he would have preferred to be sitting with Clarissa nestled into his side, but right now he was glad that he didn't have to support his own weight.

"Yes, I'm fine." Magnus finally spoke as he rested his head in his hands, massaging his temples. "And don't call me _boy_; I'm old enough to be your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather…" Magnus reeled off counting the 'great's on his fingers before concluding tiredly "I think. I don't know, there are too many 'great's to count." He said before slumping back in the seat and resting his head on the back of the armchair.

"That is a lot." Luke agreed with a wry smile.

"What can I say, I am truly very great." Magnus' spoke with his eyes closed, waving his hand dismissively as he did so. "At least I stayed standing this time." He muttered more to himself than to anyone else.

Magnus felt something tug gently at the hem of his shirt and slowly opened his eyes to see Chairman Meow gazing worriedly up at his owner, Magnus' shirt clenched tightly in his small mouth.

Smiling fondly down at his little companion, Magnus scooped him up and pecked him lightly on his tiny pink nose. Chairman Meow in turn ran his rough tongue over Magnus' own nose and squirmed until Magnus placed the little feline on his shoulder where he snuggled into a ball and settled there.

Grunting from the effort of standing up, Magnus walked, with Chairman Meow on his shoulder, over to where Jocelyn was hovering over Clarissa; silently watching her sleep. But what she didn't notice was that whilst she was watching Clarissa with tender eyes filled with love, Luke was watching her with a similar look that Magnus himself recognised. Magnus saw the longing and immediately felt a wave of sympathy wash over him.

He reached out impulsively and rested a hand on Luke's shoulder, feeling the werewolf jump slightly under the touch. The man turned his head and they locked eyes; Magnus gave him an understanding yet sad smile and Luke's blue eyes widened in panic. Sensing his fear, Magnus raised his hand and pressed his finger to his own lips indicating that he would stay silent and felt Luke's shoulders sag in relief. Magnus squeezed his shoulder once before releasing it.

"Now Jocelyn I am afraid that we must settle the issue of money." Magnus spoke directly to Jocelyn, who – tearing her eyes from her daughter – nodded.

"Yes, of course. How much do I owe you Magnus?"

Magnus considered for a moment, then, coming to a round number, he decided.

"One thousand dollars should do the trick don't you think? That is Five hundred bucks for each time I do this for you." He announced.

Jocelyn looked stern for a moment as she decided whether to argue, then, seeing the steely look in Magnus' eyes, she thought against it, digging in her handbag.

When Jocelyn's eyes were downcast Magnus elbowed Luke gently in the ribs and indicated with his head to where Jocelyn was now retrieving her Chequebook.

Eyes widening slightly he nodded frantically to himself, glasses bouncing on his nose, before speaking.

"Jocelyn, let me get this." He insisted. He held his hand up to silence her when she began to protest. "No arguing, you are letting me stay with you, think of this as repaying you for your hospitality. Now where the hell is my cheque book?" He wondered aloud.

He patted down his shirt pockets and he was just beginning to check his trousers when Magnus smugly produced Luke's chequebook from his own pocket, waving it in front of his face.

Luke looked at him with one eyebrow raised before snatching it from the Warlocks grasp.

Flipping it open Luke grabbed a pen from his shirt pocket and wrote out clearly

**Mr M Bane**

**One Thousand Dollars Only $1000**

He signed it haphazardly, ripping it off and handing it to Magnus who, once he inspected it, snapped his fingers and it disappeared, to join his stash of numerous other cheques.

"Much obliged Mr Garroway." Magnus drawled before sweeping a grand bow in the shorter man's direction, accidentally unbalancing Chairman Meow who tumbled off the warlocks shoulder and onto the ground. Jumping up in shock he hissed at Magnus before letting out a contemptuous huff and stalking out of the room.

"Whoops." Magnus murmured to himself grimacing as he stood.

"Well, on that note I think we best be off. Magnus thank you so much." She stood on her tiptoes much like last time and kissed Magnus on his glittery cheek. She then reached down and lifted Clarissa into her arms turning to give Magnus a small smile before moving towards the door, Luke following closely behind her. Magnus trailed behind them, his eyes trained onto Clarissa. His heart cracked as – just once more for good measure – he mentally listed every reason why what he was feeling towards Clarissa was wrong. But he couldn't help it as Jocelyn descended the stairs and Clarissa's face slowly disappeared from view.

What he didn't notice was that Luke had been watching Magnus as he stared desolately at the child and now understood the sad smile of comprehension that Magnus had given him earlier.

He patted the warlock on the back before starting the descent himself.

Suddenly, Magnus was pulled from his trance.

"Luke! Wait there!" He called. The werewolf waited patiently on the stairs as Magnus disappeared into the loft for a few seconds. Light footfalls could be heard as Magnus returned and walked down the few steps Luke had already descended with a dark blanket in his hands.

He passed it to Luke with a small wistful smile on his lips.

"It belongs to Clarissa; it was left here 2 years ago." Magnus explained.

Luke looked down at the small blanket in his hands before handing it back to Magnus with a kind look.

"Keep it." He said.

Magnus took the blanket back with a baffled expression.

"Until next time my friend." Luke placed a hand on Magnus' thin shoulder squeezing it slightly.

"Ok." Was Magnus' brilliant response as Luke walked down the remaining stairs to the very front door.

"Oh and Magnus, eat something boy, you're wasting away." Luke grinned mischievously as he closed the front door behind him.

Magnus was left standing in the dark stairwell, the only light supplied was from his loft. He leant against the wall and slid gradually down it, releasing a large breath as he went, so that he was sitting on the stairs, clutching the blanket in his hands.

It seemed that Magnus and Luke had found a common ground.

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><p><strong>Ok, I must say that I personally LOVED this chapter. <strong>

**Opinions?**

**Please Review, Favourite ANYTHING and I shall be a VERY happy bunny!**

**Lots of love and thanks for reading**

**From **

**Alicia**

**xxxx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in…. a week is it? But I have had a very bad case of food poisoning so I haven't been doing much (Although I have started writing a Harry Potter fanfic about Fred Weasley and my own OC called Samantha Harlow. It has actually been doing quite well :) Check it out if you can.) And also I had zero ideas of what to do in this chapter but it came to me eventually :)**

**I hope you like this chapter and I have done a basic drawing based on the one described in this chapter so check it out it's on DeviantArt on my Profile, the link is below -**

**.com/#/d45dmj3**

**So, please enjoy and review **

…**..**

Chapter 4

Clarissa Fray woke up on the 14th of August bursting with energy.

She climbed out of her small bed and ran across her room, flinging her bedroom door open none too quietly.

"Mummy! Mummy!" She called as she ran down the hallway towards her mother's room.

The door was already open and Clarissa looked in to see that her mother was not there.

"Mummy?"

Stumbling into her mother's bedroom, Clarissa looked everywhere but saw no sign of the tall redhead she resembled so much.

Returning to the narrow hallway, a frown on her face, she made her way into the small lounge to discover that there were balloons stationed in every corner of the room and presents were piled onto the coffee table.

Clarissa screeched in surprise and delight as she was grabbed around the waist and thrown in the air to a low yell of "Happy Birthday!"

A scratchy kiss was placed on her soft cheek as Luke set her down on the floor grinning warmly down at her.

"Uncle Luke! Uncle Luke it's my birthday!" She jumped in happiness, gripping onto the leg of Luke's jeans and tugging on them.

"I know!" Luke laughed kindly.

"Do you know how old I am?"

"Hmm…" Luke crouched down to Clary's level and he scrutinised her freckled face for a moment before speaking. "Thirty-two. You are thirty-two."

Clarissa burst into high peals of laughter.

"No! I'm four." She cried and held up four tiny fingers in front of Luke's face.

"I don't believe you!"

"But I _am _four! You can ask my mummy!" She said.

"Ahh… but where _is_ your mummy?" Luke challenged her grinning evilly.

For a moment Clary looked around, confused until long slim arms wrapped around her tiny waist and spun her around in a circle.

As she stopped spinning, Jocelyn kissed her daughter on the top of her curly head of hair.

"Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!" She said to her daughter who turned to face Jocelyn and threw her arms around her mothers' neck, gripping tight before pulling back to look her mother in the eye.

"Uncle Luke doesn't believe that I'm four!" She pouted, her little forehead creasing.

"Oh I'm sure he's just teasing darling." She told her, pushing some curls from her forehead and kissing her there before setting her down on the floor.

"Now, time for presents!" Luke grinned. "If you don't get there before I do then they're all going to be mine."

Clarissa shrieked and ran quickly around the small sofa to her presents, turning and standing protectively in front of them to face Luke who had simply rolled over the back of the sofa, falling with an 'oof' as he landed lengthways. He quickly righted himself, as a blush crept up his cheeks, allowing Jocelyn to seat herself where his feet had previously been.

"I beat you! Now you can't have them!" Clarissa grinned happily at him hand on hips.

"Oh darn!" Luke held up his hands with a sad look on his face.

"Okay now let's see what you got!" Jocelyn picked Clarissa up and placed her in between the two adults before handing her a small parcel wrapped in light blue paper.

"This is from Uncle Luke." Jocelyn told Clarissa, grinning as the little girl immediately ripped the wrapping paper off eagerly.

Inside was a pristine copy of 'The Gruffalo', a book Clary loved. Whenever she would visit Luke in his book shop she would nag and nag until Luke would sit down and read it to her.

When she saw the book she squealed and launched herself at Luke, hugging him tight.

"Thank you Uncle Luke!"

"You're welcome! Now you can read it all of the time!" He told her, watching with a satisfied smile as she sat back, clinging the book to her chest with a toothy grin.

As Jocelyn was about to pick up another present, she spotted a parcel she didn't recognise sitting on the floor, separate from all of the others.

It was wrapped in electric blue paper and was encircled by a glittery rainbow ribbon.

Frowning, she reached forward and lifted it into her lap, glitter dropping from the package as she did so.

"Luke, did you bring this?" She turned towards the werewolf who frowned and shook his head.

"There's a card." Luke leant forward and pulled out a small tag, which was tucked behind the sparkly ribbon.

"Hey, that's mine!" Clarissa objected, snatching the card from Luke's fingers and turning it over to read the elegant writing on the blank side.

Luke quickly scanned the message and his eyes widened.

It read:

"_Dearest Clary-Beary,_

_Happy 4__th__ Birthday!_

_With all my love,_

_Meow."_

Jocelyn's head snapped in Luke's direction, questions burning in her eyes.

"Magnus?" She mouthed to Luke who nodded in reply. "Okay then, Clarissa, let's see what… _Meow_… got you." She glanced at Luke uneasily.

Surprisingly, Clarissa didn't ask any questions, she simply opened the present carefully, peeling each layer back slowly.

After it was opened fully, they could see what was inside.

A soft toy bear lay underneath the layers of paper. It had silky black fur, and yellow eyes, its legs and arms were long, giving it a human-like figure and it had the words "Clary-Beary" sewn above its heart.

Clarissa picked it up and looked at it in wonder, running her small fingers over the writing before hugging it and placing it by her side as she looked at the things that had been hidden beneath it.

Wrapped in pale blue tissue paper was a necklace. It was circular, with vine-like decorations around the edge and in the middle; set against the dark blue background was the silver portrait of a cat. The figure was filled with spirals and whorls and a small opal glowed as its eye.

Jocelyn was suddenly full of emotion as she reached forwards to fasten the pendant around her daughter's tiny neck.

She went to take the wrapping paper from Clarissa's hands when he saw that there was more.

There was a box of drawing pencils and an A4 pad of paper, but instead of a dull cover, there was a beautiful drawing.

Two butterflies had been drawn in opposite corners of the page, odd swirls and patterns had been drawn around them. In the bottom left corner rested a four leaf clover with a wolf curled around it. Luke had to blink twice to make sure he wasn't seeing things. But sure enough, it was there.

In the centre of it all was written "Clary" in purple, standing out against the white background, and the black and white drawings. Pops of green, gold and black were dotted around the page.

Green and gold; the colour of Magnus' eyes.

Jocelyn stared, wide eyed at the intricacy of the cover.

But she didn't look hard enough.

If she had looked hard enough she would have seen the rune for destiny weaved into the swirls. If she had inspected the smallest butterfly for long enough she would have seen the rune for protection on its wing and felt it engraved in the back of Clarissa's necklace.

Magnus had taken no chances.

When the pendant rested on Clarissa's heart, Magnus, as he sat in his apartment, felt a soft thrumming begin to beat through the matching locket he wore around his own neck.

For Clarissa may have been blind to the darker side of the world; but it wasn't blind to her.

And that fact terrified Magnus more than ever before.

**So there you go!**

**Please review and I am giving everyone an opportunity to say what they would like the next chapter to be about.**

**So let me know what YOU would like the next chapter to be about by PM-ing me or Reviewing.**

**I may actually try to do them all so it's worth telling me what you think!**

**Lots of everlasting love for reading,**

**From**

**Alicia**

**Xxxx**


	5. Chapter 5

**HOLY MOLEY! 25 reviews? That's amazing guys thank you SO much, you have no idea how much that means to me. :')**

**So I know many of you want to skip right to when Clary is old enough and you want to see their relationship. But I can't do that :( sorry!**

**I HAVE to fill in the gaps in the story; it would be a bit weird if suddenly I just papered over the rest of the Mind wiping…..things, and skipped to the party with the Shadowhunters, and besides, I have something a little extra to shove in before that ;)**

**So I am afraid that you are all going to have to wait…**

…**.Please don't abandon me. **

**Anyways here's the next chapter of the story.**

**I'm finding it difficult to write all of the memory wiping scenes without them being identical so bear with me. All I can think of to change it is to use different peoples' point of view so here we go.**

**Enjoy :D**

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><p><span>Chapter 5<span>

Ever since that day, Clarissa hadn't removed the pendant from around her neck. It went with her everywhere; and so did Magnus. Through the pendant, Magnus could tell exactly where she was and could feel her little heart beat at all times. This became a huge comfort for Magnus.

That was exactly why, one day, he was lounging in a warm bubble bath, relaxing his worn out muscles. He was exhausted, never in his 800 years had he performed so much magic in one week. His mind was frazzled, his thoughts muddled, but as he lay amongst the warm water he didn't need to think, he felt the tension draining from his muscles. That was until something changed. His hand flew to his neck where the locket lay, and he felt something alter.

She was here.

"Oh crap!" Magnus squealed. Yes, squealed.

He splashed out of the tub, spilling soapy water everywhere as he streaked, in his birthday suit, out of the bathroom, past a very shocked Chairman Meow, to his bedroom. He ran over and threw his wardrobe door open as he scrutinised every garment hung there. He put an outfit together in his mind and after he clicked his fingers he was garbed in black skinny jeans. On top he wore a plain black vest.

_The Goth look it is._

He felt the pulse within the locket beat stronger yet. Quickly he grabbed his eyeliner and outlined his left eye just as the buzzer sounded. He flailed his arms about in panic as he looked in the mirror to see that he had only decorated one eye.

He clicked his fingers and spoke.

"Come on up." He didn't have to ask who it was; the locket was almost bouncing off his chest with how strong the pulse within it was.

He speedily drew around his left eye and adjusted it to match the other.

A knock sounded at his front door and he clicked his fingers again, releasing the lock.

Magnus heard the door open; then heavy, yet hesitant footsteps could be heard entering the apartment and Magnus frowned.

_That doesn't sound like Jocelyn._

He quickly flung his door open, striding back into the living area, ready to confront whoever this stranger was, and promptly slipped on the puddle of water he had trailed on the worn down hardwood floor, landing on his back painfully.

For a second there was silence as a stunned Luke waited for Magnus to pop back up, but all he heard was a low groan.

"Magnus?" He spoke cautiously as he set a snoozing Clarissa on the sofa.

Magnus recognised the voice instantly.

"Luke?" He asked through the sharp pain in his back.

Luke made his way around the sofa quickly and helped Magnus back onto his feet.

"Are you alright?" Luke asked hesitantly.

"Yup. Yup, I'm fine. A-okay." He nodded, his hand resting on his lower back as he stretched and felt it click, he hummed in satisfaction as the pain lessened.

"Right." He rubbed his hands together. "Where's my girl?" He made his way over to his sofa and to the sleeping five-year-old lying on it.

Her hair had grown significantly longer and now her curls reached her tiny waist.

"She's looking more like her mother every day." Magnus mused from his perch on the coffee table opposite the sofa.

"Yes she is." Luke agreed. "Unfortunately, Jocelyn couldn't make it, she has previous arrangements but she wanted me to thank you for her presents this year and last. This little nightmare hasn't taken off the necklace since she got it. She absolutely loved her other presents as well. That art pad was just beautiful."

For her fifth birthday Magnus had sent Clary a fresh batch of drawing and colouring pencils and a large frog shaped back-pack, which, out of all honesty just made Magnus smile more than anything.

"Well I'm glad, it took me long enough." Magnus grinned as he played with one of Clarissa's curls.

"You drew that yourself?" Luke asked baffled.

"Indeed I did." Magnus said absentmindedly.

Luke swallowed as he saw the way that Magnus watched Clary; his gaze wasn't possessive, but it was protective. Luke gulped as he made his way over to the warlock.

"You've made quite an impact on her you know?" Luke said suddenly as he sat down next to Magnus on the coffee table.

"Really? How so?" Magnus tried to hide his joy at the though of it.

"She insists that we call her Clary now. She won't react to anything else. You call her Clarissa and she just ignores you." Luke patted Magnus on the back. "She even named the stuffed bear you gave her last year 'Meow'."

"Huh." Magnus smiled wistfully. "It's always nice to know that I'm remembered."

"I don't think that she really ever forgot you." Luke said quietly.

For a moment they were both silent as they thought, until Magnus heaved a sigh and leant forwards to pick Clary up in his arms.

"Okay little one, let's do this shall we?" He said quietly to the slumbering child.

Luke watched Magnus intently. The last time that this had happened Luke had been scared and apprehensive about the process; so much so, that he hadn't been able to observe it completely.

So he watched as Magnus stood, rocking from side to side; he was enraptured as Magnus' fingers released blue sparks that hung in the air until they began to weave together, enveloping the pair completely. Luke felt his eyes grow wide in appreciative wonder. Then it began to sink into their skin. The curtain closed in on them and disappeared into them; becoming them as if it was natural. Luke saw with wonder that whilst the blue tinge to his skin was a part of Magnus, it seemed to be natural to Clary. Their skin shone an inhuman electric blue as they emanated magic.

Nothing happened for a while. The same thing happened on the previous occasion, but now, as he watched, Luke could see how Magnus' brow was creased in concentration.

Half an hour passed as Magnus tried to navigate the maze of Clary' mind.

Finally, Luke noticed, Magnus must have found what he was looking for, because his face smoothed out before creasing up even more this time.

Luke saw how Magnus' grip on Clary tightened and he sucked in a sharp breath.

This time, something happened that had not happened before. Clary's eyes opened slowly, her gaze looking dreamy and Luke made a noise of warning. He could not disturb Magnus, but Clary being awake was bound to cause difficulties in the process. The one thing that Luke was worried about, as his mind wandered and began to whirl in panic, was how Clary would react. Would she panic, would she be frightened, would she resist. Clary had always been unpredictable so all Luke could do was sit, frozen in place, and stare.

He was pleasantly surprised.

It only took seconds before Clary's green eyes began to shine an eerie fluorescent blue as she gazed up in wonder at Magnus' strained face. She calmly observed her azure skin in fascination flipping her hand over to see the blue tinge on both sides.

She broke out into a beautiful, exhilarated smile.

Luke felt tears prick his eyes as he watched the scene. The magic had spread and was now highlighting her burgundy hair; like water and fire, complete opposites, willing to extinguish one another but so beautiful when entwined together.

Curiosity thrummed through Clary as she reached up and ran her fingers over Magnus' creased face. Instantly it smoothed out under her feather-soft touch.

She smiled slightly before wrapping her small arms around Magnus' neck and burying her face in his shoulder. Within seconds she was sleeping again.

Luke felt a hot tear slide down his cheek and wiped it away quickly, turning his attention back to the spell.

Finally, the blue sheen bled out of Clary and was absorbed back into Magnus who glowed a brighter blue momentarily before returning to his natural colour, if only a bit paler; which was so noticeable against his caramel coloured skin.

His unique eyes opened slowly one whole hour after he had begun the process. Luke sniffed and stood, he placed a stabilising hand on Magnus' back and led him to the sofa where the Warlock gratefully sank down into the familiar warmth, Clary still clasped to him.

Magnus buried his face in Clary's soft hair, breathing steadily in and out before raising his head slowly to see Luke kneeling before him with a curious look.

"What?" Magnus asked tiredly.

"You really care for her don't you?" He asked softly, his voice cracking with emotion, but the question still threw Magnus completely. He knew Luke had an idea of his affection for Clary but he didn't expect him to voice it. It felt like some sort of unspoken law; it was not to be mentioned.

Nevertheless, it felt like a betrayal to deny it.

"Yes." He said in a small voice as he gently caressed Clary's hair staring into the distance.

"Just – be careful kid." Luke said with such a caring, earnest look that Magnus simply nodded his head quickly, a small smile tugging the corner of his lips.

"What did I say about calling me 'kid'?" Magnus glared half-heartedly.

"I know, I know but still, just be careful." He warned seriously before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a lump of cash.

Magnus clicked his fingers lethargically and it began to count itself.

The air around the money glowed a bright blue before disappearing to join Magnus' large savings.

"Cheers." He yawned.

"Not a problem." Luke replied, accepting a still sleeping Clary from the warlock and cradling her against him.

He stood and walked over to the door. Magnus stayed on the sofa.

"How long Luke?" The warlock asked quietly.

"How long what?" Luke turned to face him, his back to the door.

"How long have you been –" Magnus finished the sentence by waving his hands, silently praying that he didn't have to say it out loud.

After a puzzling moment Luke got the meaning behind his words and paled slightly.

"Since we were seventeen." He said gruffly. At Magnus' scrutinising look he rolled his eyes. "6 years."

Magnus gulped before his next words.

"Does it weaken over time?" He said weakly.

Luke scrutinised this boy before him and was forced to remember a saying that he treasured.

_Never judge a book by its cover._

If you looked at Magnus, you would see an eccentric 19 year-old, innocent to the ways of the world, living life as it came to him, embracing it with open arms. But underneath, he was very different. He was eons older, wiser and cleverer. But that didn't stop love shaking his very core.

But, as looks may deceive and looks may change; emotions never do. This is what Luke said to him.

"Emotions never alter if the same heart is in you Magnus. If the same heart beats the same blood through the same body; then what is beautiful to you will always be beautiful, what matters will always matter. And what you care for, you always care for. Nothing can change that." Luke told him gravely and he watched as Magnus' eyes closed in despair.

For love may be the most beautiful emotion. But it is also the one that can make you jump before you think. It can cause great pain and suffering; but it can also nurture your soul, embracing it with its power and watching it grow.

It can also tear it apart.

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><p><strong>OKAY! Sorry I haven't updated in yonks but I have been busybusybusy and the creative juices just weren't flowing!<strong>

**So I finally pulled this one out. I hope you liked it!****!**

**Lots of love from,**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm sooooooooooooo sorry! This took far longer than i originally thought to come up with but i hope the events in this chapter make up for it somewhat.**

**Although you may feel like throttling me at the end of this chapter but i WILL get the next one up A.S.A.P so as to avoid a mental murder from you all.**

**So i maybe kinda sort of possibly papered over ONE of the mind wiping scenes... okay but i didn't _really_ lie to you i just said that i couldn't miss out ALL of the rest of the mind wiping scenes...**

**okay then, on with the chapter...**

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><p><span>Chapter 6<span>

_The next day._

Magnus was lying on his bed having slept like a log, following his meeting with Clarissa the day before. In the past two years Clarissa had changed a lot; however, for a seven year old she was still very small, still looking five years old at the most. Nevertheless, she was strong willed and as stubborn as could be; Magnus began to realise that she had inherited that from her mother, leading him to wonder what she had inherited from her scum of a father; he had gladly noted that aside from some small resemblance in her features, there was very little of Valentine Morgenstern within her. So he had done the spell, been thanked profusely by Jocelyn for the presents he sent her for her birthdays. (a box of paints and a stuffed cat for her sixth birthday, and he had sent her one of his favourite books, "The Hobbit" for her seventh. He had written her a little note inside the front cover saying;

"_To my Clary-Beary,_

_This is one of my favourite books; it proves that anyone can be a hero if you're given the chance._

_Don't forget that little one._

_I am giving you this book, because you are already my hero and I want you to remember that._

_Forever yours,_

_Meow_

_X"_

Needless to say, he had charmed the note, so that only Clary could read it; he wasn't going to risk Jocelyn seeing it and realising his true feelings. He could only imagine how that would end.

It involved a sharp stick and Magnus' head.)

He had been paid, before having to watch Clary walk away from him for another two years, the joy at seeing the pendant around her neck completely gone.

But here he was, mind dragged down by fatigue from his activities the previous day, when he felt it. The aura around his flat began to pulse and shimmer.

His exhaustion momentarily forgotten, he shot up and watched out of his window as the protective wall of magic he had placed around his dwelling shook and bent, trying to keep out the power that was trying to penetrate it.

His eyes widened drastically as he jumped from his bed and with a click of his fingers his cloths-less frame was dressed in dark jeans and an extremely plain black jumper, he had no time to dress himself up as he felt the power, which he fed the shield with, drain from him and his knees buckled underneath his weight. He stabilised himself shakily on the shelves that held numerous spell books and his favourite mundane novels, breathing heavily and trying to fight against the sleep which plagued his mind.

He took one step forward hesitantly, only to discover that his legs couldn't hold him up and he fell to the floor, throwing his arms in front of him to break his fall, ending up on his hands and knees, panting for air but never seeming to get enough in his lungs to keep him conscious. He felt his senses begin to dull and suddenly his arms couldn't hold him up anymore and he fell the rest of the way towards the ground, his soft cheek pressed against the plush carpet, body sprawled out awkwardly.

Magnus heard a frantic 'meow' come from his open doorway and through his blurred vision he could make out the tiny figure of Chairman Meow looking at him, panic in his eyes. He ran forward and began to claw at Magnus' sleeve, meowing pitifully, throwing hasty glances over to where the blue shield was bending against the severity of the attack.

Magnus couldn't let himself go without a semblance of a fight.

He took a deep breath and as he clenched his teeth, he summoned all of the power left within him, felt its warmth before releasing it in one great explosion which spread in all directions with a bright blue glow. Doors were blown into smithereens and all of the windows in the apartment shattered; so did the shield. The attacker instantly targeted Magnus directly, making a spike of pain suddenly shoot through his head as he gave up on the protection, he screamed painfully, holding his head in his hands as he cried out in heart-breaking agony; but he knew he had no other choice but to take down the defence; if he didn't, then the attacker would keep trying to infiltrate it; and Magnus would die as his power was drained from him.

So he let it go. He felt it slip away from him, leaving him weak and vulnerable; but alive.

Magnus whimpered and looked wearily through his bangs at his cat who was standing faithfully by his master's side despite his fear.

As unconsciousness began to encompass all of him, Magnus barely registered the sound of splintering wood and heavy footsteps. He knew that he would probably not survive this. He didn't know who was doing this, but what he did know was that they clearly wanted him dead, or they would have approached him pleasantly instead of trying to drain him to death.

He suddenly felt all of his regrets encompass him. All of the things that he had never done, the places he had never been; the people he had never had a chance to love.

Images of wide, innocent, green eyes appeared before his closed eyes and he felt a warm tear scorch down his cheek, just as the already open door to his bedroom was unnecessarily blown off its hinges by the attacker, the rubble sprayed everywhere, scattering around Magnus' still body. Chairman dodged the flying pieced of wood, hiding under the small desk Magnus had in his room before trying to return to his master, he squealed in protest when Magnus used a tiny part of the power left within him to throw a sleeping spell at his moronically faithful pet who dropped to the floor in a peaceful slumber, out of the way of danger.

Magnus felt a shock of pain abruptly seize his entire body and he hissed in pain, being conscious enough to understand that he was under the influence of this attackers spell. He tensed slightly, the pain was just bearable and Magnus only had to clench his teeth together to avoid screaming out.

The attacker laughed; a high girlish giggle, and Magnus had to blink twice as he gasped, trying to get enough oxygen in his lungs to stay conscious.

He was being attacked by a girl.

_Well, there goes my reputation._

All of a sudden, all thoughts were torn from his mind as Magnus screamed loud and wretchedly, his body was wracked by the most pain he had ever experienced in his long life. Slowly and deliberately, each joint in his body was being disconnected, starting with his shoulders, moving down his arms; each time a disgusting crunch could be heard. He felt his body arch off the ground as his agonising screams pierced the air; sobs began to shake his form and hot tears spilled down his face. The pain increased in intensity suddenly and Magnus cried out; he did one thing he had never had to do before.

He cried for help.

"_Help me! Please!_" He bawled, shaking and convulsing as the torture continued ruthlessly.

"No one is going to help you." His attacker hissed cruelly, leaning down to run a long, sharp fingernail across his tear streaked cheek.

"_Why me?_" Magnus croaked through his whimpers and screams.

Magnus blurrily saw the woman smile and she moved her weight on top of him, straddling Magnus' hips before leaning forwards to whisper in his ear.

"Because you're in my way." She said matter-of-factly her breath ghosting down his sweaty neck.

With a harsh flick of her wrist a large cut was scratched across Magnus' once smooth cheek and she chuckled as he hissed through his teeth releasing odd screams when the spell would move to another part of his body, right now it had settled into his hipbones, he felt one joint slowly disconnect itself and Magnus cried out; the woman smiled cruelly, sensing this instantly.

With a harsh movement, she lifted up, hands flat on the floor either side of Magnus' head, moving her weight off him for a second before bearing down on him; hard. Her knees collided with his hips; a sickening crunch could be heard and Magnus was shocked at the pain that shot though his body before he let out a guttural scream, tears fell freely down his face and he began to black out with the pain.

All of a sudden, time seemed to stand still as a rasping growl resonated through the walls of the room and the woman above him cursed softly. Seconds later, her weight was gone from Magnus' abused body and a loud crack could be heard as the woman was thrown into Magnus' beloved bookcase, books and pages rained down upon the two figures who wrestled together on the floor.

A loud snap and a howl of pain suddenly ended the scuffle.

The spell on Magnus ceased instantly and he gasped brokenly, feeling blood run from the corner of his mouth.

He blacked out.

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><p><strong>OOOHHHH!<strong>

**Okay yeah, next one will be up soon... i hope... i'm busy tomorrow so i won't be writing... of course but i will write like a mad woman on wednesday and thursday and friday and saturday... yeah you get the point... i actually will have a lot of free writing time this weekend as i am going to my grandparents' house and i will use ANY excuse possible to stay in my room all day. NO JOKE. I am a HUGE foody, i love food - although i wouln't say i was fat... how that works i have absolutely no idea - and when i am at my grandparents' house i will willingly miss lunch in order to avoid the old ones. **

**They aren't very nice people.**

**I'm not exaggerating.**

**Oh well, next one will be up soon (don't quote me on that, but i shall try.)**

**Lots of endless love to you all for reading my crazy fangirl imaginings.**

**From**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, so yeah, this chapter is quite a bit shorter than the others but i kind of wanted to show how disconnected events are at the moment.**

**So they are going to be a bit shorter than usual, but you know it's quality not quantity... okay so i hope that its quality is enough to make up for the lack of quantity...**

**So yeah. I must send my love to my WIFEY _WellThatROCKS _(just to avoid confusion, we are not actually married (15 years old HELLOOOOO!) ... just very close :P) anyways i love her lotsly!**

**Enjoy the chap and i hope you didn't honestly believe that i was going to kill off Magnus... the description of this fic kinda negates that theory COMPLETELY!**

**And oh yeah _jace4ever_ well done for working that one out... although i'm pretty sure lots of people did actually figure it out as well and were just too lazy to say it in a review... oh well... you reviewed so i am compelled to congratulate you :)**

**READ ON!**

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><p><span>Chapter 7<span>

A lost man felt as if he were sinking, which was strange, because, in the distant depths of his memory, he vaguely remembered that dying had always been described to him as feeling as if you were floating, nothing held you down; you left your body behind you, you were a spirit, floating alone, completely free. But that was not how he felt. He was sinking, sinking still; his chest was constricted and he couldn't breathe, everything was black. He couldn't tell where his head was, where his legs were, only that they were there _somewhere_, just not anywhere he could reach. He couldn't even tell _who_ he was.

What he did know was that he wasn't free. Not yet.

He was involuntarily paralysed with exhaustion and he let himself be carried away by the wind of death. He wasn't scared, he accepted that this was it; he was dead, or dying; which however, he couldn't really tell.

_Magnus._

The whisper in the back of his mind was as thin and as inaccessible as smoke and had he been looking for it, it would have run away from his searching thoughts; but as it was, the answer he had not known he needed, came to him. But as he reached out, it slipped through his fingers; a tease of a memory, dancing around the edges of recognition just proving how he was not free. He was still being tormented.

_Magnus._

_Magnus Bane._

Nothing.

But then…

_Meow._

And there it was—a sweet whisper that sent shivers down his spine. He finally knew who he was and the name spoken earlier made sense; he was Magnus Bane.

He had something to work with; something small, yes; but something all the same. But would he really need to know who he was if he was dead? If he had never known then it would have been like being born blind, never knowing what you were missing as you had never had a chance to see anything you would miss. It would have been simpler.

Now as he thought of his name, a harsh memory rattled through his brain, making him cringe and tense with its severity. A sickening crunch could be heard as kneed collided with hips and his body started to some apart as he lived and breathed. He had screamed for help; and it had come.

Just not in time.

Suddenly he began to panic. What if he _was_ dead and this was all there was? Just lying here, doing nothing for the rest of eternity; not breathing, not moving, just lying here with nothing but your thoughts; remembering the things you had in your life, regretting that you never got to appreciate them fully. Heck, there was a reason why Magnus threw the parties he did; it wasn't as if he actually _liked_ the people he invited; the simple fact was that he couldn't stand being alone—even if it meant tolerating people who were the walking personification of the word 'thick'.

As if he had been literally hit by the realisation, he thought of something. He was lying down. He didn't know how he knew that, but he did. He knew that there was a hard, level surface under his body.

He thought that if he had been in his body then he would have smiled from relief and felt a weird tingling spread across his face.

_My face?_

How did he know that it was his face he was getting the feeling in?

_Well, I have had a face for over 800 years._

He felt himself snort at the abnormal thought and felt his blood freeze in his veins.

Everything about his body was rushing back to him.

Flowing blood, skin, heartbeat, hands, feet, legs, arms, chest, face, hair—oh the hair—he felt it all.

_Meow._

Something within him suddenly screamed out. It told him to listen.

_Meow._

So he listened. He did what he did when he was about to perform a spell; he didn't try to force himself to hear, he relaxed and let it come naturally.

It all burst forwards at once.

A hand was in his. A voice was speaking to him softly and sweetly. His heart was beating frantically in his chest; but he didn't know why. He felt something soft brush against his face and a slight pressure was applied to his cheek.

A scorching heat spread across his face and he felt his eyes become moist. One lone tear fell from his eyes.

A feather light touch brushed the droplet from his face.

_Why do you always cry?_

A lone thought, said aloud by a beautifully innocent voice; Magnus wished he could reply.

But no matter how hard he tried, his body would not respond to the signals from his brain. His hands didn't move when he wanted them to; his mouth wouldn't open when he needed it to.

He could not control his own body; it felt as if there was someone else behind the steering wheel of his corpse.

_Corpse._

That was what he felt he was.

He couldn't move, couldn't speak. He couldn't do anything.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

_Meow?_

A quiet whisper in his ear, breath ghosting across his face.

Yes.

_Can you hear me?_

Yes!

_Meow? Can you hear me?_

_**YES!**_

Frustration bubbled within Magnus' chest and he wanted to scream out.

He could hear her.

He heard the worry in her voice; the care; the hope.

He heard _her._

He always heard her.

He just wished he could tell her.

_Why do you always cry? _She had asked him.

I only cry for you little one; only for you.

That was what he would have told her; if only he could.

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><p><strong>:'(<strong>

**Naww! Magnus is such a softy in my eyes, even though he puts up a cold and sarcastic front he truly has love in his heart (Cheesy? Yeah i know.)**

**So please REVIEW!**

**Lots of love **

**from**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay Hiii! So yeah another quality vs quantity chapter but oh well. I like Luke and Magnus moments, i think that they're sweet :) So yeah!**

**My ideal song for this chapter more to accentuate the belief in Magnus' recovery than to match the scene is Aftermath - Adam Lambert. IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL! So yeah, i think that it's perfect! Evidence in the lyrics - "Gonna tell ya', you'll be alright, In the Aftermath, Anytime anybody pulls you down, Anytime anybody says you're not allowed, Just remember you're not alone, In the Aftermath." LOVEEIIIITTTT!Look it up NOOOWW!**

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><p><span>Chapter 8<span>

Clary Fray was sleeping.

She was sitting in a comfortable armchair in a light and cool room. Her favourite sketching pad was resting in her lap, a pencil lay on the floor, the hand that had previously held it, hung limp over the edge of the bed.

Her head lay on the edge of the bed, rested on her crossed arms and her long fiery hair was spread partially onto the bed before her; the rest trailing over the edge and hung in midair, rippling with the slight breeze which came in through the open window. Her breathing was even and quiet; calming to anyone who was having trouble sleeping.

Luke came under that category, but it wasn't helping.

He tiredly sat opposite her in a similar chair, but he couldn't sleep. He had bags under his eyes and his skin was pale. It had been three weeks. There had been no major improvement in Magnus' condition. There had been a moment, seven days after the attack when he had smiled and three more days after that he made a noise. It may not have seemed like much, but after one whole week of nothing; that meant everything. There had been no more since; but they weren't giving up on him any time soon.

Luke had stayed by his side faithfully every single day. He had even closed his book shop temporarily in order to care for the warlock.

But it appeared that he didn't need caring for, because three days after the attack, when Luke had refreshed his blood-soaked bandages for what seemed like the hundredth time, a particularly small cut across his cheek had almost completely healed being only a thin, pink scar; now, three weeks later, it was completely gone. So he left the warlock to heal on his own, helping only by feeding him as best he could and making his drink; a process which didn't prove to be easy.

He had no idea why he did this; but he felt as if he had a sort of duty to help Magnus after he saved him. Luke had gone far and wide, questioned and searched; but Magnus didn't have anyone. Everyone he had asked had told Luke that Magnus Bane was a renowned loner, he didn't have many friends, no family—which made sense considering he was 800 (or more) years old—and neither did he have someone to love. Luke had been told that Magnus Bane had been a notorious date-and-ditch kind of guy in the past, but suddenly, a while back, he had halted and even though Luke knew the answer to his own question, he had been told in response to his query that the warlock had stopped dating six or seven years ago.

So Clary, Luke and Jocelyn were determined to be there for someone who was so alone. There was someone by his side 24/7, Clary more than anyone. As soon as she would wake up she would beg her mother to bring her to Luke's and without so much as a 'hello' she would be in the chair by his bed, talking to Magnus and comforting his panicked cat, Chairman Meow, who had followed Magnus' scent and had appeared on the window sill of Luke's apartment the night of the attack looking scared and meowing frantically not only for his master but for his friend and companion who had taken him in and cared for him all those years ago.

All of them were so involved in helping Magnus that Clary and Jocelyn had partially moved in with Luke so that they could help to take care of Magnus. The warlock always seemed to heal faster when they were around; or more like when Clary was around.

Once, when Clary had spent an entire day sitting by Magnus' side, much to Jocelyn's dismay, a hissing sound began to sound within the room, Clary had come running to Luke who had been arranging a new shipment of books; when they returned to the room Luke heard the hissing noise decrease gradually and, because he was sure he knew what had just happened, he checked underneath the blankets and felt, with amazement that Magnus' pelvis, which had been snapped right down the middle, had healed.

Yes. Everything magical seemed to happen when Clary was around.

As Luke sat, fingers pressed together at the tips, he took in Magnus' thin frame that lay under the piles of blankets Luke had heaped on top of him.

He looked so young, yet there were creases no young person would have; creases around his mouth and eyes from a lifetime of laughing and smiling, yet etched into his face were the creases of a troubled life, frown lines on his forehead and only now without his layers of make-up could Luke see the dark bags under his eyes.

This was not the body of a carefree person; this was the body of a person with a disturbed life.

_800 years._

God that was too long a life for Luke to even fathom; he was perfectly content with his mortality. You live, you die. That was it. You fell in love and treasured the feeling for the short time you lived; and to those who were mortal, their life seemed long and, for some, it was even too long.

But a mere human lifetime to someone who has lived through several of them? Well, it must go past in the blink of an eye.

But to live forever, watching those you love grow old and die; that was torture in its cruellest form. It explained so much; Luke had never thought of this and now he saw why Vampires, Warlocks and the like, seemed so—cut off, morose and above all, lonely.

He suddenly felt a wave of sadness wash over him and he buried his face in his shaking hands, feeling tears come to his eyes at the thoughts going round and round in his head.

He sniffed through the tears that now fell freely and he moved his hand forwards hesitantly before throwing caution to the wind. He grasped Magnus' hand with his left one and with the other he pushed some onyx strands back from the young warlocks' face.

"You'll make it through kid. I know you will." He whispered determinedly. "Just, don't give up. Hold on; not for me, I don't matter right now, just… do it for yourself and more than anything else—do it for Clary." He told the warlock quickly.

Nothing happened but he wasn't expecting it to.

"She can see you, you know? I know you thought that she wouldn't be able to, but she can." Luke sighed, still holding gently onto Magnus' limp hand. "Do you remember when you said that you weren't normal? Yes, well, I can't find it within myself to lie to you and tell you otherwise, I mean, you're a warlock by the angel." He laughed hollowly. "But, I think that you underestimated yourself there kiddo. I know this is going to sound beyond corny, but, it think that it is the way you are so capable of showing love that makes her able to see you; because love is the most human of emotions isn't it? I don't really know, but it feels like it." Luke shook his head slowly and exhaled heavily. "However, I do have another theory, and—don't be offended or anything, but—you _look_ human from a distance, it's just—it's just your eyes, they are what make you seem…not normal; and since your eyes are closed…I don't know. But whatever it is, it doesn't matter for now; just know that she is here with you all the time. She likes to read to you, I don't know if you know that or if you can hear anything at all, but we're all rallying around you, me, Clary and Jocelyn. Oh and Chairman Meow's here too, who eats like a pig I will have you know. Yesterday, I turned my back for a second, _one bloody second_ and in that _tiny_ second, my toast was gone; whoosh, all I saw when I turned around was a flash of white going out of the door with my breakfast." Luke laughed a bit more genuinely, smiling as he spoke. "Just…get better soon kid; I'm right here until you do."

Magnus' smooth face remained emotionless.

"Clary's sleeping just there Magnus, she's right beside you, sleeping in that chair. I'll be gone for a few seconds, but she'll still be here. If you listen hard enough you can hear her breathing."

Luke laid Magnus' hand back on the bed, parallel with his body, patting it gently before moving around to crouch before Clary. He gently removed the sketch book from her lap and picked up the pencil from the floor. He placed them both on the side table, closing the art pad on a page covered by drawings of gold-yellow cat's eyes.

* * *

><p>Magnus heard it all.<p>

One tear fell from his eye and disappeared into Clary's hair.

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><p><strong>Oh my dead Wizard Rowling God! I loved writing that chapter!<strong>

**I hope that you enjoyed reading it! :P**

**REVIEW...please? :)**

**Lots of love,**

**From,**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay. So this chapter doesn't have Magnus OR Clary in it; of course Magnus is mentioned... but yeah. Again it's a short one so i am forcing you just to deal with it! I do love you all though :)**

**Oh and i have GREAT NEWS (completely unrelated to this fic, but still great news!) I got an A in my R.S G.S.C.E which i did earlier this year! AAAAHHH! I'm such a happy bunny... but i am still petrified about doing the rest of them at the end of this school year.**

**SO SCARY! SO MUCH STRESS AND I'M ONLY 15!**

**BUT I'M SO HAPPY!**

**Anyways read on my fellow people :D**

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><p><span>Chapter 9<span>

Little did Luke know that the day after the attack Maryse Lightwood had stood in front of the destroyed building, confusion in her eyes.

The people who lived in this neighbourhood had reported an attack to the police. Needless to say, when they mentioned seeing a shield of light around the scene of the accident, and watching a wolf scale the wall to enter the upstairs apartment after screams of agony and pleas for help had been heard, the scout the Clave had in the NYPD had called the Lightwoods and so now a group of Shadowhunters were standing outside the building which was cordoned off by bright yellow tape.

No one had actually stepped a foot into the crime scene yet.

"Okay." Maryse said loudly, "Let's go in."

The group of six or seven Shadowhunters followed the woman in, past the remains of the front door, up the perfectly intact stairs, which was littered by shards of wood from the, now absent, front door of the apartment the attack was said to have taken place in. When they were inside, they saw something unlike anything they had before.

All of the windows had been smashed outwards, not even the frames that had held the glass remained. The television was almost unrecognisable as it lay in pieces on the floor. The beams that held up the ceiling were scorched, but still just intact. As they moved further in, they saw more.

In the kitchen all of the glass-doored cabinets had suffered the same fate as any of the glass in the apartment. All of the porcelain mugs and plates had also shattered, and crunched under their feet as they walked through.

No sooner had the group spread out, when a cry of shock and urgency could be heard coming from what Maryse assumed was the bedroom. She rushed away from the bathroom, where every tile on the wall had fallen and were cracked on the floor along with the shards of glass that had fallen from the mirror which hung above the sink; the contents of the cabinet were spilt everywhere, glitter and make up were scattered everywhere.

As soon as she stepped into the bedroom there was the unmistakable stench of blood, and lying before her eyes, covered in blood-soaked sheets of paper was a hunched body. On closer inspection, Maryse saw that this was the woman the neighbours had described entering the apartment after the 'shiny blue thing literally shattered'; not only that, but she had been seen around the neighbourhood before, always watching the man who lived in the upstairs apartment of the building.

Maryse knelt down and after brushing a piece of hair from the woman's face, looked down and saw the bite marks on her throat and noted the abnormal angle her neck was twisted.

She pulled her hand back, rocking on her heels, looking around her and mentally pinpointing the signs of a scuffle. Claw marks on the windowsill where the wolf had entered—a dent in the wall, directly opposite said window—and finally, when Maryse noticed that there were no other signs of conflict, she concluded that it had been a short fight, ending with the crashing into the book case and a rather brutally snapped neck.

She could see the scene play before her eyes.

But how did the 'attacked' fit into the scene and where was he now?

No one in the neighbourhood knew each other's names so that was significantly unhelpful.

But what they did know was that the pleas for help and the screams of agony had been from a man; of that, they were absolutely certain. From the damage, and the type of books in the apartment, Maryse didn't have to be experienced to know that it belonged to a Warlock.

_So…_

_Was this warlock after him because he was powerful?_

_Did he have something she wanted?_

_Was it just revenge?_

_It must have been planned out if she had been around for a few years, observing him._

All of a sudden, Maryse had a striking thought; a possibly powerful warlock who lived in the city and had glitter and make-up in his bathroom cabinet.

"Kadir?" She called the man who had been the first to find the evidence.

"Yes?" He stepped forwards instantly.

Maryse had a bad feeling about this, but as she had observed the area between the window and the point of collision in the wall, something had caught her eye.

"How did the neighbours describe the man who lived here?" She kept her eyes focused on the piece of evidence which had prompted the question.

"Umm—from what little they saw of him, they said he was very tall, usually abnormally dressed, lots of make-up and uh—was very fond of his glitter apparently." Kadir snorted humorously as he spoke the last part.

Maryse simply sighed, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose.

A warlock, who lived in Brooklyn, was very fond of his glitter and make-up, dressed abnormally and could have been a target for many reasons.

Not many warlocks lived in the city, but out of those Maryse knew _did_, only one fit matched that description.

"_Magnus."_

"Sorry?" Kadir asked hesitantly.

Maryse stood and pointed to the patch of carpet she had been inspecting.

Kadir moved forwards and knelt. For a moment he didn't see anything but then—yes. He saw it. If he angled his body a certain way, the light caught the carpet just right and he could see a long indentation in the carpet, about the length of a person; a very tall person indeed, but that hadn't been what drew Maryse's attention. In the part of the indentation which seemed to be where his head would have rested, there was some glitter stuck to the strands of fabric.

"Very fond of his glitter indeed." Kadir muttered, looking up at Maryse who suddenly was on all fours, crawling slowly over to the window.

"Maryse—" He began cautiously, having never seen her act this way, but Maryse cut across him urgently.

"Kadir, did any of the neighbours see anyone leave after the commotion?"

"Well, they did say that they think they saw a figure enter the building soon after."

"What?" Maryse snapped her head up, her eyes widened in shock.

"Well, they said they _might_ have, they told me that it was difficult to tell as there was so much panic, and that it was a fleeting glance, but they _may_ have seen someone go inside."

"_May have_." Maryse muttered, rubbing her eyes tiredly, every bone in her body ached and she'd been feeling like she was going to be sick all day. "Well, did they see anyone _leave_ after going in?"

"Yes, they said they saw a few people leave, but they assumed they lived here and were fleeing from the scene. Some they recognised, some they didn't. Apparently no one in this building is particularly sociable and people in this area are quite dim-witted. Why do you ask?" Kadir asked exasperatedly.

"Did they describe any of them?" Maryse pushed, still not looking at who she was speaking.

"Umm, a few people were cloaked but one man they could see clearly was said to be not short, not tall; more like stocky and bulky—"

"Did he have brown hair?" Maryse looked up at him, questions burning in her eyes.

"Yes, yes I think they mentioned that." Kadir said confusedly, recalling his conversation with the neighbours earlier that day.

"Then, I think we may have what we need." Maryse said as she cautiously picked a brown piece of hair from the carpet. "How soon can we enlist the help of a warlock?"

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><p><strong>RUH ROH! SO Maryse is looking for Magnus... hmmm well that should end well... or not... you'll have to wait and see.<strong>

**I have to tell you though that i may not be able to write tomorrow as i am loading the car to travel to Marton, Yorkshire... yay. **

**I am not a happy bunny anymore. I am a sad bunny. :(**

**But reviews may cheer me up... :)**

**Love you all so much**

**From**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**


	10. Chapter 10

**HOLY ****... 61 REVIEWS? That is so amazingly lovely that there are no words to explain how much that means to me :) Everyone has been so complimentary in these reviews and i cannot fathom why that is :) My little brain is running around in my head screaming in joy at the top of its lungs...or lobes...i don't know...but it's really happy :) My minds little imaginings have gotten 61 reviews? That seems almost impossible but i am sooo thankful nonetheless!**

**OOOHHH this chapter made me laugh so much...yes...i laugh at my own writing...**

**Yet again, this is a cliffy... SORRY! But i thought the moment it cliffs on was too priceless to put at the end of a chapter... so it's at the beginning of the next...**

**I hope you like this and in reply to a review i got from _max-ride-fax-fan _mentioning how Maryse is out of character in the previous chapter i might want to point out that in this section on the timeline, Maryse would have been pregnant with Max so yeah that's why she's a bit different, hormones and whatnot... and no i did not make that up, it's true... he dies(*sobs*) when he is nine and Clary is seventeen(i think), so, logically, he must've been born when Clary was 8, she is supposed to be 7 in this chapter, so taddah, Maryse is PREEEEGGNNAAANNNTT! (Now my mind has randomly gone to images of a baby Alec...naw, TOO CUTE!...but that's not the point.) So yeah, there you go!**

**ENJOY!**

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><p><span>Chapter 10<span>

Clary was sitting cross-legged on the bed Magnus lay in and she was reading to him.

"_Not far away was his island, of which Bilbo knew nothing, and there in his hiding-place he kept a few wretched oddments, and one very beautiful thing, very beautiful, very wonderful._

_He had a ring, a golden ring, a precious ring._

'_My birthday-present!' he whispered to himself, as he had often done in the endless dark days._

'_That's what he wants now, yes; we wants it!'_

_He wanted it because it was a ring of power, and if you slipped that ring on your finger, you were invisible; only in the full sunlight could you be seen, and then only by your shadow, and that would be shaky and faint._

'_My birthday-present! It came to me on my birthday, my precious.'_"

She read in her small voice, yet it was as clear as a bell, as natural as the wind that whipped the words around as if they were her own; never did she stumble over the long words as she read. Magnus felt his heart swell when she had first begun to read to him from the book he had given her.

Everyday she read to him, and if she couldn't, then she would tell him in advance. Everyday she would read to him and once she had finished, she would ask him the same question.

"_When are you going to wake up Meow?"_

And each time her hopes were raised and then dashed when nothing would happen. So she would kiss him on the cheek and leave for another day.

Each time, she would miss the tear that Magnus let fall.

Usually, Jocelyn would sit and listen to her daughter reading, but today was not a good day.

The reason for that?

The Clave were on their way.

Finally, after weeks of searching and asking, they had found a warlock who was willing to help; and she was leading them straight to Luke's house.

And Luke was freaking out.

He was a previous Circle Member, a werewolf and Valentine's ex-best friend.

Not exactly in the Clave's good books.

Jocelyn was freaking out.

She was a previous Circle member, Valentine's ex-wife and the mother of his only living blood relative.

It appeared that Luke and herself were in the same boat.

And what was worse, was that the people who were now head of the New York Institute were the Lightwoods.

Yes. Today was not a good day.

They were currently running around the house like headless chickens, panicking about what the hell they were supposed to do.

Jocelyn had been at in the car on the way back from the shops, waiting at the traffic lights when she had seen Mayrse and Robert striding across the road in front of her, an entourage of people behind them; they were being led by a peculiar looking woman who had a long bushy tail; a warlock.

Needless to say, they were all glamoured, but Jocelyn had never lost her ability to see through glamours.

Her first thought had been that of course, Shadowhunters were stuck in the past, still walking everywhere; but then her mind had snapped to reality and she had followed them as subtly as could be managed in Luke's hulking truck, and her suspicions had been confirmed. They were heading to Luke's house.

She had quickly picked up her phone and warned Luke in advance who had yelled down the phone frantically asking what he should do. Jocelyn had simply made a panicked noise and told him to wait for her.

She may or may not have broken the speed limit as she drove.

Now they were running around his house, hiding all pictures and evidence that might lead them to believe that this was the Lucian they knew.

There were pictures of Luke and Clary together; Luke, Clary and Jocelyn; just Clary; Jocelyn and Clary…

So not obvious at all. Nope not at all. Anyone could have owned this house.

But the other worry was Magnus. What were they supposed to do with him?

After they had cleared the house they ran upstairs to where Clary was reading to Magnus.

The two adults stumbled into the room, out of breath and eyes wide in fear.

Luke ran over to the window which conveniently looked over the street and he groaned; the group of Shadowhunters were at the end of his driveway and he felt his heart speed up in panic.

"Jocelyn they're here!" He said quickly, drawing the thick curtains and plunging the room into darkness, Jocelyn flicked the light switch and Luke could see again.

"Mummy? What's wrong?" Clary asked confusedly, looking from her mother's frantic expression to Luke's.

"Nothing's wrong baby, we just—we just have to get Meow out of the house you know—for—for fresh air." Jocelyn said hurriedly as she grabbed a dressing gown from where it hung on the back of the door when the doorbell rang.

Luke and Jocelyn looked at each other with wide fearful eyes.

The doorbell rang once more, followed by three, sharp, insistent knocks; each one seemed to sear through Jocelyn's mind as she clenched the robe in her nimble hands.

"Luke?" She said hopefully, green eyes boring into him as they heard talking on the porch below the window.

"I don't know." Luke looked around him for inspiration but nothing happened.

When they heard the clear and loud click of the lock on his front door being broken Jocelyn spun on the spot and seemed to be debating something.

"Jocelyn—"

"No time Luke." She told him in an urgent whisper as she turned to scoop Clary in her arms. She wrenched open the cupboard door throwing the bathrobe in and stepping inside, hushing her curious daughter. "Are you coming? Look I know it's not much but it's this cupboard is the only choice we have." She hissed to Luke who, after deliberating for a second, nodded. Tiptoeing around the bed to grab Clay's art pad, he joined them in the cramped space, closing the door behind him just as he heard footsteps on the landing.

Jocelyn bit her lip as the footsteps multiplied and the door to the room was flung open.

"He's here!" A man, with a voice instantly recognisable to Jocelyn and Luke, stepped into the room.

Robert Lightwood strode forwards and tested Magnus' pulse as Shadowhunters raced into the room.

"He's alive." He said, moving to scoop the warlock in his arms.

"Wait, Robert don't do that, we don't know if he's fully healed, and if he dies then we don't get our answers." Maryse held up a cautioning hand at her husband.

Jocelyn and Luke shared a confused glance through the darkness before returning to look through the small gap between the cupboard doors.

"Well, what _are _we supposed to do? We need him, and whoever lives here could be back any minute; I don't think they'll be all too pleased that we broke into their home; from what we gather, this person is a werewolf, and they can be…temperamental. It's either now or never. So tell me, what is your plan of action?" Robert asked his wife exasperatedly.

"Move out of the way." Maryse ushered him away sternly and took his place by the bedside.

She frowned down at Magnus' body before hesitantly lifting the bed sheets, suddenly, there was a frantic yowling as a tiny figure launched itself from under the covers directly at Maryse, who backed away in shock, watching as Chairman Meow landed primly on the floor and began hissing at her.

"I—uh—wasn't expecting that." She murmured, and Jocelyn, in the cupboard, had to stifle her giggles, burying her face in a grinning Luke's shoulder. Maryse watched as Robert leant forwards and picked up the frantic cat who wriggled in his grip. He simply stroked the feline's head soothingly and watched with a satisfied expression as Chairman's howls decreased in their volume, he curled up in Robert's large palm, grumbling and purring simultaneously. Maryse watched with the tenderest expression Jocelyn had ever seen her wear. Suddenly, Maryse shook her head and stepped forwards once more.

"Okay." Maryse murmured to herself as she raised the bed sheets again, for a moment, shock played across her face and she looked away from the bed before steeling herself and leaning forwards to press her fingers against Magnus' body, checking him over for injuries when it happened.

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><p>Magnus was lying there, listening to the conversation when he felt it.<p>

_COLD!_

_Cold, cold, cold—very, very cold—holy—cold!_

He wanted desperately to get away from the probing ice packs Maryse Lightwood called hands, and had he been able to move, he would have run to the nearest human being who actually had body heat and smothered them in an attempt to steal their warmth.

Suddenly, her hands moved to check his spine was aligned and that was when it happened.

_Too cold! FAR TOO COLD!_

_AAAAARRGGHH!_

…

_Ouch._

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><p><strong>HAHAHA so yeah, what happens next? Oh you just have to wait and see :)<strong>

**So lots of love to you all and yes, Jocelyn, Clary and Luke are hiding in a cupboard...**

**LOL :D**

**Love you all lots**

**From**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay so this is an UBA short chapter but i hope you like it nonetheless. **

**Okay, so i am rather tired so all i can say is... Read on and enjoy :)**

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><p><span>Chapter 11<span>

Magnus' body had tingled all over, his fingertips felt as if a hot flame was burning them and the feeling spread throughout his body as quickly as a flame consuming a piece of kindling.

Then, he felt it.

The release, the feeling, the ability.

So he moved.

_AAAAARRGGHH!_

…

_Ouch._

He was lying face down on the floor.

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><p>Maryse gasped slightly and looked away at the sight before her.<p>

She had watched as Magnus' eyes had snapped open during her examination and his body had arched so far into the air that he had fish-flopped off the side of the bed, arms flailing as he let out a shocked noise before his body thudded to the ground.

In the cupboard, Jocelyn, Luke and Clary all stared wide eyed.

Maryse had tried to grab him before he fell, but only succeeded in grabbing a handful of the bed sheets and tearing them off Magnus' form.

Now, she had to remind herself that she was a professional as she looked down at Magnus' body sprawled out on the floor.

She stepped around the bed but as soon as she was near him, he hopped up onto his feet, backing away from her with his hands held out as if to protect himself.

She let out a surprised noise and looked away quickly.

Jocelyn blinked quickly and covered Clary's eyes with her hand, just as a large hand came to hurriedly block her own vision.

Luke poignantly looked away, pressing only his ear to the door with the conclusion that now was a time for listening, not seeing.

In the room, all of the Shadowhunters turned their backs on the figure and left the room at Robert's firm glance. Magnus was breathing heavily yet apart from that, he seemed to find nothing abnormal about his situation.

"Three months." He mused as he checked himself over. "I now see the benefit of hibernating; it's very calming and _fantastic_ for keeping the wrinkles away."

"Mr Bane—" Robert began gruffly as he analysed a chip in the paint on the walls.

"Yes." Magnus said, looking towards the man who chanced a glance towards the warlock before snapping his gaze back to the wall, a hysterical look on his face.

"Do you want to…?" Robert waved his hand, hoping Magnus would catch on.

"Do I want to what?" Magnus frowned, moving towards the man who hastily took a step away from him.

"Umm—Maryse you tell him—I'm going to, uh, pay Skye." And with that, he strode off, out of the room to pay the warlock who, even Magnus knew, had already left.

"What a swell guy!" Magnus exclaimed, finally approaching Maryse whose eyes widened at the gesture. "You are very lucky!"

"Yes—yes I suppose I am." Maryse said wanly as she still clenched the white sheets in her hands.

"So, how's baby number three coming along?" Magnus asked cheerfully and watched as Maryse's brow creased in disbelief.

"WH—what are you talking about? I only have two children!" Maryse said quickly, but no one missed how she sounded slightly panicky and she began to grip the fabric in her hands, harder than before.

Magnus' eyes widened in faux shock, and he brought a hand up to his mouth as he gasped.

"You mean to say—? You didn't know that you were pregnant?" He buried his face in his hands as he moaned. "Oh god; I always do this! Bad Magnus, Bad Magnus!" He sighed. "Congratulations anyway, I'm sure he'll be a wonderful child."

"He?" Maryse squeaked, eyes wide in horror.

Magnus hit himself on the head.

"Oh no! I can't stop myself, I just can't!" He grinned guiltily clapping his hands together excitedly as he scooped Maryse up in a hug.

When he put her down, she was just as immobile as before; in fact, even more so.

"Dearie me! You should be happy! A baby! I love babies! Aren't they wonderful? So cuddly and chubby! Oh—look at me I'm tearing up!" Magnus placed one hand on his jutted out hip and fanned himself with the other, looking up at the ceiling whilst muttering; "Don't cry Magnus, you can't cry!"

"Yes, quite." Maryse said blandly. "I—I have to go—" For a while she simply opened and closed her mouth before striding out of the room, dropping the bed sheets as she went, her footsteps heavy as she ran down the stairs and out of the house.

Magnus relaxed his stance and stood in the almost empty room for a while, just listening.

"Maryse! Maryse are you okay? Maryse!" Robert Lightwood called after his wife as he followed her out into the street; Magnus walked over to the window and watched them from where he had peeled back a section of the curtain.

Maryse flailed her arms about as she spoke and Robert's face slowly became emptier. Eventually, Maryse buried her face in her hands as she finished speaking. Robert pulled her into a hug and let his wife rest her head in the crook of his neck.

A few words were exchanged as the inspection was called off and Magnus watched as the confused group rounded the corner of the street and left.

Magnus grinned evilly, feeling extremely proud of his quick thinking, before he turned to face the cupboard.

"They're gone, you can come out now." He told the people in the cupboard as he crossed his arms.

"Umm—yeah. We would—but Magnus?" Luke said hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"Could you put some clothes on?"

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><p><strong>Yes, so Maryse has just been embraced by a rather naked Magnus... LOL :P<strong>

**So i am off to bed now, due to the fact that it's...10:30...wow...i need a life...OH WELL; I am sensible :)**

**NIGHT!**

**Love from**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**

**P.S. Reviews will help me sleep :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD please don't hurt me! I'm SOSOSOSOSO sorry! I have had the WORST case of writer's block EVER! So i finally managed to do this and because school has started i am going to be updating less and less, maybe once a week or less :(**

**So i'm sorry, you're going to have to be patient with me :)**

**For the section involving Magnus i imagine the 'Let's Lumos' song 'One last goodbye'...even though it is a Harry Potter song, it's just really beautiful and hearbreaking :(**

**So yeah, Read and Review...I LOVE YOU ALL! **

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><p><span>Chapter 12<span>

Clary Fray was nine years old.

Two years ago she had sat by her Meow's side day and night for weeks and read to him from a book he had sent her for her seventh birthday.

Two years ago some strange people had come into her Uncle Luke's house and she had hidden in a cupboard with her mother and Luke; but she never knew why.

Two years ago she had stepped out of the closet.

Two years ago she looked around the spare room above the book shop.

Two years ago, she had asked; _"Where's Meow?"_

Two years ago, her mother's eyes had widened in horror, Luke's mouth had opened and Clary thought that she had seen tears in his eyes as he looked at a space in the middle of the room with a look of absolute dismay.

Two years ago, she had been told to go downstairs only to hear low voices from the spare room as she stroked a small cat who had settled himself in her lap.

Two years ago, Clary heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs with her mother's cries following the person's flight down the stairs.

Two years ago, Clary Fray thought she had heard a man crying.

Two years ago, one hour later as she watched rain slam against the front window of the bookstore she had been overcome with a sense of complete and utter misery and she had curled in on herself and cried.

To this day, Clary feels as if she is missing something; a part of her feels empty; ever since that day she has felt it.

The only time Clary feels complete is when she has her fingers pressed to her locket; her art pad in her hands with her fingers gripping a pencil; her teddy nestled into her side as her fingertips gently run over the words sewn above its heart.

Sometimes she cries; but if you were to ask her why, she couldn't tell you…for she doesn't know; all she does know is that it feels right to cry, that she feels better when she does; when she cries, she doesn't feel so alone.

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><p>Two years ago, Magnus had his heart ripped out.<p>

Two years ago, _"Where's Meow?"_

Two words.

Two years ago, that was all it took to make him feel sick to his stomach.

Two years ago, it was two words and a blank look.

Two years ago, her eyes had been glazed over as she stared right through him. Her small forehead had creased in confusion as Jocelyn's hand went to her mouth as she gasped silently and Luke's gaze had snapped to him.

Two years ago, Magnus had been frozen.

Two years ago, he watched Clary go from the room and Jocelyn and Luke had immediately smothered him with questions, apologies and worrying glances.

Two years ago, Magnus had not answered, listened or moved. He had been rooted to the spot, eyes latched onto the doorway; the last place he had seen her. He felt as if the world had stopped spinning; every sound echoed around in his head and he felt the room before his eyes sway as grief overwhelmed him. He felt as if the light had gone form his world and he had been left in darkness, wandering around, colliding with every obstacle possible as he tried to find his way back to the surface of the water which he had been pushed into when it had happened. He felt as if the freezing water had begun to flow down his throat and he was drowning as cold seeped into his very core and he begun to shake and shiver.

Two years ago, he had abruptly fled from the room in mortification, hands trembling viciously by his sides. He had stumbled down the stairs, feeling sobs bubble up in his chest as he ran from the house, Jocelyn and Luke calling after him; but he didn't stop running; he couldn't stop running.

Two years ago, no one had seen him as he had run as fast as his legs could carry him to the only place he felt safe.

Two years ago, he had run, not even noticing the rain begin to hammer down upon him as he splashed through the gradually growing puddles, towards the centre of the city.

Two years ago, he had run through tall wrought iron gates and had heard them as they clanged shut behind him as his feet sunk into the damp grass with loud squelches.

Two years ago, he had slipped on a moss covered pavestone and had broken his fall with his hands. He hadn't tried to get up. He had just let his head fall forwards and rested it against the cool ground.

Two years ago, he had sobbed in the rain; he had sobbed to the point where his arms had weakened and he curled in on himself as he clutched his head in his hands.

Two years ago, out of nowhere, Magnus screamed. He screamed out of heart-break, out of the unbearable pain that was tearing his soul into pieces as if he didn't matter. He screamed in rage, screamed to the heavens, screamed out to any deity that may or may not exist. He cried out; he had wanted to be heard. His nails had dug into his scalp as he gripped the strands of his hair, pulling on it and revelling on the pain he felt, he focussed on the sting as he felt warmth cascade through the base of his hair and drip onto his fingers, staining them a rusty red as his head pounded in agony.

Two years ago, Magnus had passed out in front of a tall Victorian house, face stained by tears as the rain poured down on him, he felt their cold embrace as tears continued to fall from his eyes even as he was unconscious.

* * *

><p>Two years ago, a woman heard screams. She dropped the book she had been reading on her chair and ran to the window that overlooked the front of her house.<p>

Two years ago, she saw a figure lying on her front path, the intensity of the lights from the room she was sat in cast shadows across him and she gasped.

"_Magnus?"_

Two years ago, she fled towards her front door to drag her friend indoors and to tend to his self-inflicted wounds.

To this day, she could still see that there was a part of him missing. He was empty; and she only saw happiness in him when he was curled in on himself by her fire, reading a book she knew he treasured and she would see his fingers absently trail to the pendant that hung around his neck.

* * *

><p>To this day, Magnus would find himself crying for no particular reason. All he did know, was that when he did cry, he didn't feel alone, he felt as if there was someone out there that felt as he did and so when he cried, he didn't feel ashamed in the least, he felt…as if he could be whole again.<p>

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><p><strong>There you go FINALLY!<strong>

**So please tell me what you think and i will answer any questions you ask! (So long as you dont ask for the info for the next chapter!)**

**BYEEE,**

**Lots of love,**

**From,**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**


	13. Chapter 13

**HELLOOOOOOOOOOOO! So I am ill (YET AGAIN), and I have endless time to write as I am off school, I would be happy but, honestly, I feel like I have tried to swallow a hedgehog…so not good…the horrible thing is that I have a continuous tickle in my throat so I have to keep coughing which leaves me in EXTREME amounts of pain…or drinking a lot of liquids, which ends up with me getting up every five minutes to go to the loo.**

**Oh, and I hate technology :( I spent around about 1 hour trying to fix the internet connection in my house; FINALLY, after so many dull phone calls to the company which provides our broadband, I got it all working, left my aunt to it, returned to my cave of illness…only to discover that the only computer in the house that didn't have wireless…was mine…FML.**

**All are very annoying :)…just an insight into my thrilling (and frustrating) life…**

**OHOHOHOHOH I do have good news though! I NOW HAVE TUMBLR! I am still trying to figure out how to use the ruddy thing but I'm getting there, I have even accumulated a plethora (love that word) of GIF's and I WUV THEM!**

**I am fashionnightmare12 on tumblr too so not too complicated :D if you follow me I will follow you IIIII PWOMISE!**

**ANYWHOOOO…**

**I hope that you like this chaptaaaaaaa.**

**Please R&R…**

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><p><span>Chapter 13<span>

Magnus sat at the small desk in his bedroom, the pen in his hand was poised over a blank piece of paper.

He blinked once as he hesitantly lowered it to the sheet and began to write once more.

_Jocelyn,_

_Please forgive my absence over these past two years; I needed time to think; and I am writing to tell you that I am leaving the country forever—_

The pen paused before—

"Argh!" Magnus exclaimed, balling up the piece of paper and throwing it behind him to join the numerous others on the floor. He let his head drop into his hands and groaned; he had been at this for well over an hour and still, he had made no progress.

"Why does it have to be so hard?" He muttered exhaustedly to no one.

He dragged his hand down his face and sniffed as he rose from his seat, throwing the pen down on the desk.

He walked over to his bed, eyeing it calmly for a few seconds, the he flopped face down onto it pausing momentarily before he groaned and let his body relax into the familiar warmth.

As Magnus lay there, he heard a gentle knocking on his door.

"Not now!" He said as loud as he could when having his face pressed into a mattress.

As he expected, he heard the door open and close and he huffed out an indignant breath.

"Will you ever listen to me?" He said as the bed dipped almost unnoticeably as a small person came to lie by his side, but they faced the ceiling, hands on their stomach as they sighed.

"No."

"Humph."

"That was a highly intelligent answer if ever there was one my dear."

Even though Magnus couldn't see his friend he knew that she was smirking.

Magnus attempted to gasp theatrically but ended up inhaling some dust particles and had to sputter and cough in order to breathe as he raised himself up on his hands and knees.

"Are—_gasp—_you calling me—_cough—dumb_ Miss Gray?"

Tessa moved her gaze from the ceiling and smiled sympathetically at Magnus.

"Not _dumb;_ a bit of an _airhead_ maybe; but not dumb." She teased, making Magnus smile slightly and shake his head as he rolled onto his back so he was parallel to his friend, their arms pushed up against the others.

"You're making this harder than it needs to be Magnus." She said after a moment's silence.

Magnus' eyes closed and he exhaled noisily, lifting his hands to rub at his eyes in fatigue.

"I know." He groaned as he rolled over and buried his face in his pillows.

"Then why are you doing it?"

"Why did you leave London all those years ago?" Magnus countered and heard Tessa sigh long-sufferingly as she stood from the bed.

She walked slowly over to the window and leant against it, her forehead pressed against the glass. Magnus turned his head to watch her.

She paused in thought before she spoke.

"To protect the one I loved." She said quietly as her fingers traced a vein in the glass.

"Exactly."

"You know what? No Magnus! Not _'exactly'_!" Tessa frowned seriously at him, her grey eyes widening in earnest. "I have regretted my actions ever since I left him."

Magnus stared evenly back.

"He would have died and left you, completely unchanged whilst he grew older; frailer."

"And I would have loved him even then, frail, old, wrinkles and all. At least I would have had a _chance_ to love him, rather then mourn every day for the rest of my life over a relationship I never had! I could have had 80 or 90 years with him! Don't you see? Magnus you have that chance! Don't do this! Don't leave! Don't stop yourself from having the chance for something beautiful." She moved forwards quickly and grasped his hands in her small ones, pulling him up into a sitting position and kneeling on the floor in front of him.

"Say I do stay, Clary grows up, we defy everything her mother wants for her and we end up together. What happens when she dies? Am I just supposed to move on? Am I supposed to not be with anyone else for the rest of my life? Will I ever recover from the heartbreak of losing someone you love above all others?"

Tessa didn't say anything so Magnus nodded.

"That's what I thought."

She looked thoughtful for a second before she spoke.

"Magnus, you are my _best friend_; and I want you to be happy. You do know that; right?" Magnus looked at her and moved his head up and down slowly, before beginning to nod more vigorously.

"Of course I do."

"_Good_; because I know you Magnus; ever since you've met that little girl, you've been so happy! Aren't 80 or 90 years of happiness better than a life of questioning and wondering? Did you know that when we met, one of the first things I noticed about you—aside from your outrageous fashion sense—" Magnus chuckled slightly and Tessa grinned before continuing, "The first thing I noticed about you, was the unbridled _joy_ in your eyes, even in your movements; you had joy in your _soul_ Magnus you still do. But when Camille left," Magnus winced slightly but Tessa ignored it, "a bit of your joy went with her. But now; it's come back; Magnus, being around Clary makes you happy; so why would you do this to yourself? You once told me that heartbreak was like having every belief, every memory, every _feeling_, ripped from your soul and that you had felt distraught. Magnus, you had lived for _centuries_ before you met Camille; you'd been in relationships, fell in love, fell out of it; and yet you said that the pain of a broken heart never gets any easier." Magnus frowned, not knowing where she was going with this.

"Exactly; that's exactly how it feels! So why would I want to put myself through that voluntarily when I could leave her be, let her grow up being mundane, marry a mundane guy, have beautiful mundane children, live a mundane life her mother dreamed of and let her die a mundane death, with her husband knowing that he doesn't have an eternity to live without her and that death will take him soon?"

"Have you ever thought that it won't be just you that is heartbroken?" Magnus frowned, blinking away the tears of despair. "I did that to him Magnus." Tears began to well up in the she-warlock's eyes and Magnus felt his chest constrict, only managing to make his mouth form an 'o' shape before she continued. "I left him. I had to see his face when he realised he was too late to stop me; I had to stand on the deck of that ship and see him cry, see the pain on his face as he watched me go; as he watched me desert him. I wish I could say I had felt the same; but I didn't at the time; it's amazing what resignation can do to your feelings. Magnus, it is easier to be the deserter than the deserted, you may not think so but it is true; just know that regret _will_ overcome you Magnus; you can't escape it." Magnus' eyes slipped shut as he bent forwards, bringing their entwined hands to his forehead then to his lips as he kissed the back of her pale ones.

Neither spoke as silent tears fell from Tessa's eyes.

"Magnus; you may have been resigned to this a while ago—" He lifted his gaze to connect with hers. "—but she may not be. You two are _so_ closely bonded." She reached forwards and ran her fingers over the pendant at his neck. "She'll _know _that you left her Magnus. You know what it feels like to be abandoned; so, if you truly love her, you'll never make her feel like she's been forsaken…no pun intended." She finished with a small watery smile which Magnus, despite his mind spinning in on itself, returned.

"Nerd." Magnus said under his breath but Tessa heard and snorted indignantly though her tears.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Magnus—" She sniffed and sighed.

"Sorry."

Magnus yet again marvelled at how lucky he was to have a friend like Tessa.

* * *

><p>"I can't do this." Magnus turned away and attempted to descend the stairs but Tessa grabbed his arm and hauled him back to the door.<p>

"Yes you can." She said with a firm but encouraging stare.

"But I don't wanna." He whined pitifully, stamping his foot slightly and crossing his arms as he frowned.

"Stop being such a child."

Tessa raised her arm and began to prod Magnus' upper arm repeatedly until he finally batted her off and glared down at her. After a mini staring contest, Magnus hesitantly lifted his hand and after taking a deep breath he quickly knocked before pulling back as if he had been burned.

"That wasn't so hard was it you cry-baby?"

"You never used to be this mean; you were actually quite nice and studious." He spoke almost longingly making Tessa roll her eyes.

"Meh; people change." She waved it off, shoving her gloved hands in the pockets of her jeans.

"_And _you used to frown upon Charlotte dressing in a manly fashion; look at you now, you're wearing…" He gasped theatrically, "_trousers and boots?_ My, my Miss Gray, whoever has corrupted you?"

"You did, oh fashion guru; and besides, would you have rather I had been like Jessamine?" She raised an eyebrow at him quizzically; she was quite happy to help him distract himself.

The smirk instantly dropped off Magnus' face and his eyes widened drastically.

"_God no!_" He shuddered, patting her curly head of hair fondly as his gaze trailed to the door in front of him, "I like you just as you are—or were…same thing."

Tessa chuckled under her breath and fixed the scarf around her neck, brushing his hand off her head and tightening her ponytail.

As his arm dropped lifelessly to his side, she looked up at her friend and saw conflict in his eyes; it was obvious what his worries were.

"She will be able to see you; it's been over two years, the spell ought to have worn off by now." She said gently, entwining their gloved hands and swinging them slightly.

"I know." A small smile began to pull at his lips as he bumped his shoulder against his friend's.

They waited in silence for a few seconds.

There were no movements from inside the apartment, no sounds; nothing.

Magnus sighed and hung his head as Tessa gave him a small smile.

"We will come back tomorrow." She told him reassuringly, giving his hand a squeeze. "They will be in then."

"Yeah, okay; come on." He nodded and put his arm around Tessa's thin shoulders as they walked down the stairs together.

As they reached the floor below, they heard a door open behind them and they slowly turned simultaneously.

A small woman instantly recognisable to the duo stood in the doorway staring at them; both eyes widened and instantly shot to the nameplate beside her door.

"Madame Dorothea, you live _here_?" Magnus asked incredulously.

"Indeed I do Mr Bane;" She rasped, "If you are looking for the Fray's, you will not find them here."

"What do you mean?" Tessa asked hesitantly; seeming as Magnus was frozen to the spot.

Both heard the undercurrent to what she had said; and it didn't sound good.

"There was a…situation of sorts."

"_What?_ _What situation? Spit it out!_" Magnus screeched hysterically, stepping towards the woman who just cracked a grin and chuckled.

"_Magnus!_" Tessa said warningly, but she too stepped forwards.

"So it's you who has been casting that spell on the young'uns mind all this time." She shook her head. "I should've known…_Meow_."

Magnus' eyes widened and his mouth opened, but he couldn't seem to make any words come out.

"Madame Dorothea what do you mean 'incident'?" Tessa asked firmly ignoring the reference to Magnus' alias, gripping the tall warlock's arm in comfort and partially in restraint; she could feel his muscles tensed through his bright red raincoat and the murderous look was also something to be feared.

"The little girl—" Magnus' hands clenched into fists in fear, "her mind was harmed. You see, once you fled all of those years ago, they had hope that you would re-establish contact, but, when they heard no more from you after two years, that man who Jocelyn's always with, began to ask whether anyone knew of another warlock who could provide the same service you did. I was told that he had finally found someone and, in fact, the man came by last night to go through with the spell. However, last I heard, the child had woken this morning; and her mother discovered that the transaction had gone wrong, and the child was psychically harmed. They left to seek help instantly."

Tessa's eyes were as wide as saucers and Magnus was clutching onto her, feeling as if he may faint.

"Clary." Magnus whispered fearfully as his hand flew up to the locket around his neck. "How did I not know this Tessa?"

"I don't…" Was all she could say, and before she knew it, Magnus had grabbed Dorothea by the shoulders, his eyes wide and frenzied.

"I need to use your portal _now_!"

The old woman didn't look shocked in the least; she only raised an eyebrow before walking back into her apartment, beckoning for the duo to follow her.

Neither paid any attention to the interesting décor of the apartment, they were too worried about Clary.

"I demand payment." The witch said conversationally as if she were simply talking about the weather as she pulled the thick curtain away from the swirling portal.

"Of course." Magnus said without a moment's hesitation as he instantly pulled money from thin air and Madame Dorothea watched in satisfaction as it landed on her low coffee table.

She made a sweeping movement towards the pulsing gateway and Magnus took Tessa's hand, dragging her into the portal where they were whisked away in a mass of blinding colours and Tessa gripped onto her friend's hand; she had always hated portaling.

Tessa expected to be portaled to Renwick's, the only other portal aside from—apparently—Dorothea's. But when her feet landed on solid ground, her mouth dropped open as she felt Magnus' release her hand.

They had been portaled into Magnus' apartment…but there was no portal to be seen…not even a temporary one.

"What the—how the—wha—HOW—_HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?_" Tessa shrieked, still rooted to the spot in shock.

Chairman Meow who had previously been snoozing on the sofa jumped up in shock, spitting and hissing in anger for being disturbed.

"_Not the time Tessa!_" Magnus sprinted back into the living room holding a dark blanket in his hands.

"Not the time? _NOT THE TIME?_ _NOW'S THE PERFECT TIME!_" She asked incredulously as she threw her hands up in the air, rounding on her friend who was muttering some incantations, blue sparks shooting from his fingertips as he let them settle in a swirling shape on the back of the hand which held the blanket.

He suddenly went very still, making her next words catch in her throat.

As soon as he had stilled, his eyes snapped open and, without a word, he ran to his front door, ripping it open with such force that Tessa wouldn't have been surprised if it had come off its hinges, and disappeared as he ran down the steps.

Tessa stood there, mouth wide open, watching the space where she had last seen him before abruptly dashing after him, slamming the door in a very confused Chairman's face.

As she leapt down the stairs she heard a door open on the ground floor and a voice call out.

"My dear, Mr Bane, are you quite alright?"

"Absolutely spiffing Mrs Anderson!" Magnus called breathlessly as he jumped all four steps off the porch.

Mrs Anderson frowned and stepped out into the hall to watch him run down the street just as Tessa came barrelling past, making her flatten herself against the wall with a shocked noise.

"Afternoon!" She called cheerily as she ran; completely ignoring the elderly woman's offended look as she watched the young lady call after her tall companion.

"_MAGNUS BANE YOU __**WILL**__ WAIT FOR ME OR SO HELP ME I WILL __**END**__ YOU!_"

Needless to say, Magnus slowed down.

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><p><strong>OKAY! I hope that made up for the slightly depressing chapter prior to this one :)<strong>

**And, just to reassure you, the loose ends will be tied together in the next chapter e.g. how Magnus is living back in his apartment etc…**

**So yeah! I hope that you liked this chap and I know that Tessa is slightly out of character, but she is bent at my will and to be honest, no one could continue to be **_**that**_** uptight for so long…especially with a friend like Magnus Bane ;)**

**So please Review and I shall love you FOREVER!**

**Lots of endless love, **

**From,**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay, i'm so sorry that it's been so ridiculously long, but life has been INCREDIBLY stressfull so not a good time to write, otherwise i might write emotionless, eventless, rubbish, which i don't wnat to do. SO finally when things calmed down i wrote THIS! :) **

**I hope that you all like it and i am afraid i cannot promise another update to arrive very soon, as i am going to CYPRUS with my netball team and i am SOFREAKINGEXCITED! :D **

**But yes, i leave on Tuesday the 25th (?) of October and i return on Monday the 31st of October...so i don't get to go trick-or-treating...I AM NOT A HAPPY BUNNY! :( also, i was going to go to the MCM Expo on the 30th of October but i can't go to that either, and my niece is coming over from Denmark when i am in Cyprus so i won't get to see her and i NEVER get to see her and she's growing up so fast and she's just started crawling and i am seriously annoyed that i'm missing all of that...but of course i'll miss not giving you lovely people new updates the most ;)**

**I'll try and put up as much as i can before i leave and you know what sucks? I get 4 days of relaxing holiday then 6 days of sweating and playing netball in the heat of Cyprus then i get back at 10ish on the monday night...and i have to go back to school the next morning...F.M.L.**

**Oh well, i shall get a tan and THAT shall be the highlight of my holiday xD honestly i would be excited for going to Cyprus but there are so many things i'll be missing it just doesn't seem worth it anymore, but i am still going and i am hell-bent on enjoying myself!**

**Read on my good people and i shall return here when i have a new chapter **

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><p><span>Chapter 14<span>

Magnus' long legs stretched out in front of him as he ran, Tessa sprinting faithfully by his side as they sped past unsuspecting pedestrians, knocking them off their feet and leaving them looking confusedly into empty air as the glamoured Warlocks ran by with only one destination in mind. Tessa kept stealing glances towards Magnus, and each time, she saw the determined look on his face, and yet, because she knew him so well, she could see the fear, the pure, unbridled terror that was unfurling in Magnus' chest. Tessa felt it too. She had never even met this little girl, but she feared for her safety; no child should have to go through as much trauma as this little girl had—albeit unknowingly—gone through; but, aside from that, one thing she knew, was how happy Clary made Magnus, so she was fighting for her because of the effect she had on her friend. She was willing to protect anyone who meant this much to Magnus so that was why she was trailing after the tall Warlock who abruptly turned left, making her skid before darting after him again, and was now sprinting down a miniscule, shadowed alleyway that eventually gave way to a tiny, damp courtyard, with tall buildings boxing them in on every side.

Magnus stopped dead and Tessa stumbled to his side, huffing and puffing, noticeably red in the face. The smell abruptly infiltrated her senses and she gagged, looking around her at the weeds growing through the cobble stones, and the rotting boxes, reduced to mulch, in one corner of the yard.

"She's here?" She asked breathlessly and looked towards what she could see, through the shadows, of her friend and saw as he nodded slowly. She looked back up, they were standing in front of a house that was built into the side of a grey stone building, and, had they been a mundane, it could have been viewed as derelict; but as it was, they looked past the glamour and they saw the crumbled wall of the house was complete, with ivy climbing up towards the perfectly intact roof several stories above. But as Magnus' eyes roved over the building, he gasped with his eyes wide as he took in the small details. The door had been shredded and barely hung on its hinges, swinging eerily backwards and forwards in the breeze. Some of the windows had been shattered and shards of glass were scattered every which way; but a frown soon took place of the shock; it looked…lived in, he noted this as he saw that soft lights were on in the upstairs bedroom; he felt the warmth that emanated from the house and, through a broken window, he could see an ancient gramophone with a multitude of records stacked by its side, a single disk was rotating on the platform of the player, but it had clearly been playing for a long time, as the needle was tracing the indentations around the edges, now it was emitting crackling noises, that were only audible for those who were listening; as was the gentle weeping.

Magnus head snapped up at the sound and he hastily sucked his lip between his teeth and worried it before a resolute look sprung into his eyes and after he filled his lungs with a deep breath, he leapt forwards, without so much as a knock on the remains of the tattered door, he flicked his wrist and it dropped off its hinges, flakes of paint fluttered to the floor, and he was running in over it with a clatter and straight up the stairs.

Tessa did not hesitate at all, she was hot on Magnus' heels as they went up the staircase, and they heard the panicked murmuring of voices as the Warlocks' footsteps resounded through the partially empty house then they heard a shuffling of feet, by now they were outside of the door that had a rectangle of light shining from under it.

Tessa raised her hand to knock, but Magnus grabbed her wrist and gave her a look that screamed _'Are you insane?'…_clearly he had other ideas. He gripped the handle and threw the door open.

They made to step forwards but halted instantly when they were faced with a tight-lipped Jocelyn standing on the other side of the now open door, and she held a long—extremely pointy, Tessa noted instantly—sword that was glowing a pure angelic white, Luke was standing beside her, with a crossbow and a spray bottle of holy water.

Both adults jumped back as the door was slammed open, and reflexively, due to the shock of the door being ripped open, Luke squeezed down on the bottle, spraying Tessa—who cried out indignantly—in the face.

When Jocelyn saw Magnus, her eyes widened and she took in a sharp breath.

"Magnus?" She asked waveringly, the sword throwing odd shadows onto her face and making her shadowhunter marks shimmer.

Luke stood there, frozen in a state of shock, weapons still poised, whilst Tessa was making odd, huffing noises, trying to wipe the water from her face. She mopped the liquid off her face with her scarf then turned her attention to Luke and after she narrowed her eyes at him she pushed the hand holding the spray down to his side, glaring all the while.

Magnus looked at Jocelyn with fear in his eyes.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, he didn't trust himself to speak louder or to say anything else to be honest, he was afraid he's break down in hysterics, but right now, he was needed and crying wouldn't help anyone here.

"Don't apologise." Jocelyn said quickly, "Magnus, I'm sorry if I ever—"

"Mrs Fray?—I'm sorry, but now is not the time." Tessa broke in quickly; Magnus seemed to snap out of his self-pitying state and when Jocelyn lowered her weapons and stepped to the side, he strode past her without a second look; his eyes were already fastened onto the small lump buried under the covers on the small rickety bed, he rushed to her side and gently pulled back to covers which concealed the only person he wanted to see.

Slowly, a curly head of fiery curls came into view and Magnus felt sobs build up in his throat as her face came into view, her hair was plastered to her forehead by sweat, her eyes were closed, but as soon as the cold air hit her face they snapped open, and Magnus stepped back in shock, dropping the covers back onto the lower half of her body.

Her once gloriously bright green eyes were now a pitch black; they were wandering and unseeing as her eyelids flickered restlessly. A shallow wheezing was coming from her throat as she tried to breathe; all of her veins were raised and instead of blue they were black and looked as if they had been drawn on by a felt tip marker.

It terrified Magnus.

Tessa saw this and felt her mouth drop open in horror—it appeared as if everyone was too focussed on Clary's state, that they hadn't even asked Tessa who she was, but she didn't care, this was truly worthy of her being ignored—she stepped forwards hastily, standing next to Magnus.

"It's not just her psyche. Magnus this is dark magic" She whispered to the taller Warlock in panic, Magnus however, was frozen and Tessa leant forwards to rest the back of her right hand on Clary's forehead, jumping backwards and colliding with Magnus, whose arms came up instinctively to steady her when the nine-year-olds eyes rolled back and only the whites of her eyes were visible and her body began to convulse.

Jocelyn made a choked noise and was immediately engulfed in a hug, she rested her head on Luke's shoulder, hiding her face from the sight of her daughter whilst Luke gripped onto her tightly, keeping her anchored as he held his own tears back.

"_No!_ Clary, _CLARY! Please look at me! Clary-Beary, come on!_" Magnus sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her into his arms hurriedly yet tenderly, pressing his warm cheek against her cool and slick one.

Her heavy and laboured breathing slowed and eased, but the convulsing still continued. Magnus felt himself grip her tighter, he didn't know what to do, he was panicking… he was helpless.

He had never felt so useless before; one of the only people he cared for in this entire world needed him and he couldn't help her.

Sobs began to build up in his throat as he thought of what was happening to her.

But he could only think one thing.

_It's all my fault._

"I'm so sorry Clary; please forgive me." He wept, and let the tears run freely down his face; he allowed them to leak onto Clary's face and let them fall into her matted hair which he caressed as he wept for his mistake.

"I did this Clary, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. All my fault." He whispered as his voice wavered and only whimpers would escape his lips.

Suddenly, Clary stopped convulsing and Magnus looked at her face in hope. Suddenly a loud sob broke free and he rested his forehead against hers. Her head had lolled backwards and her mouth had been slack and hanging open; but her eyes, once black, had returned to their original green, but they didn't hold any emotion or life, they were still, and glassy.

Magnus' heart broke in two.

"Don't leave me!" He shouted angrily, putting his face in her hair, which, despite its current state, still managed to smell just like her, fresh and the perfume of pure innocence, and he breathed in her scent for what may be the last time as the tears continued to fall from his eyes.

"Magnus—" Tessa stepped forwards, her hand landed on Magnus' shoulder, and gripped tightly when he tried to shake her off.

"Leave me alone!" He said hopelessly, his entire body shaking with sobs.

"_Magnus!_"

He raised his head slightly, his gaze lifting to his friends' in confusion and despair.

"How did you do that?" She asked in wonder, a small amazed smile pulling at the corners of her mouth, tears of disbelief gathering in her eyes and she sniffed, trying not to let them fall.

"What?" Misery and confusion clouded his senses and he didn't feel it as a small hand came up and ran itself through the tips of his hair.

Then he heard it.

A tiny, timid whisper.

Just one word.

One tiny word.

Whispered.

So quietly.

"_Meow_."

One word had never sounded so beautiful to him before as he slowly looked down in shock into the beautiful green eyes that haunted his dreams.

* * *

><p><strong>Well there you go! I hope this didn't stress you all out too much :)<strong>

**See you next time!**

**Loads'a'love,**

**From,**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**


	15. Chapter 15

**Right so i can almost guarantee this will be the only chapter for at least a week as i am going to spend the entire duration of tomorrow packing :)**

**Anyways, enjoy this chap and i will see you all next week!**

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><p><span>Chapter 15<span>

_A tiny, timid whisper._

_Just one word._

_One tiny word._

_Whispered._

_So quietly._

"_Meow."_

_One word had never sounded so beautiful to him before as he slowly looked down in shock into the beautiful green eyes that haunted his dreams._

The room fell completely silent. Jocelyn looked up from Luke's chest and stared with wide eyes as she heard her daughter's voice.

But Magnus quickly clenched his eyes shut and frowned deep and long.

_Stop it Magnus._ He berated himself. _Stop hurting yourself! Stop it! Just accept it! None of this is true; it can't be!_

He was in denial; he knew it. He tried to hard to focus himself, tried to blink away the tears, tried to make his mind stop making things up.

Magnus opened his eyes finally and blinked once, twice. Her green eyes were still staring up at him, and they were filled with life.

He opened his mouth but no sound came out. For a while he mouthed silently until he choked out one word.

"Clary?" He whispered quietly, his shaking hand went to the side of her face and he began to compulsively stroke her cheek, not quite believing that she was alive, he'd seen her eyes, they had been dead, her pulse had stopped; her body had shut down and Magnus had known it, he had felt death surround her.

But she was here, she was looking up at him in wonder and his hand was still caressing her cheek, it was soft and warm.

It was then that Magnus heard it, the blood rushing through her veins, the pulse beating in her neck, her chest; her eyelids opened and closed. Her cheeks were tinged a rosy colour and her mouth was open slightly, her hair still matted; but none of those small imperfections mattered to him.

She was alive.

_She was alive._

His throat closed up as he began to cry openly, he pulled her up towards him and clenched her to his chest, sobs wracking his frame.

"Clary?" He wept. "Clary are you okay? Oh god Clary, _never_ do that to any of us again, do you hear me?" He demanded through his tears, pulling back and he watched as she nodded slowly, her small eyebrows knitting together in worry at Magnus' serious tone.

He bowed his head and rested his forehead against hers, breathing in and out steadily as the tears still fell, but less fluidly.

"Baby?"

Magnus slowly looked up at Jocelyn who was gripping Luke's hand tight as her eyes were fastened on Magnus' back which concealed Clary from her. His hair fell across his face as he smiled tiredly at her and shifted so that Clary could see her mother and her mother could see her as the candles that lined the room flickered backwards and forwards, throwing warped shadows across the room. Jocelyn's eyes widened in disbelief, her hand loosened its grip and slid slowly from Luke's arm before she took one step forwards hesitantly. Magnus saw her chest heave with the deep breath she took and the large tears fell from her eyes before, with a strangled cry she launched herself at Clary, who Magnus gave over, and she hugged her daughter to herself tightly, sobbing hard and sniffing loudly, whispering thanks and loving sentiments as Luke walked stiffly to the bed and sat down. His hand hovered in the air over Jocelyn's head tentatively, his gaze flickered up to meet Magnus' veiled one and he watched as Magnus nodded, causing more hair to fall forwards and block the view of Magnus' unnerving eyes just as one single crystalline tear fell from the Warlock's eye. Luke quickly pulled the embracing girls towards him and wrapped his large arms around them as he too cried, trusting Magnus' judgement as he buried his face in Jocelyn's hair and nearly collapsing in relief as Jocelyn turned around so that Clary was sandwiched between them and her head came to rest on Luke's shoulder as his arms went to encircle her small frame, pulling her and her daughter closer to his body, rejoicing in the heartbeat that he felt from where his chest was pressed against Clary's back.

"Mummy? I don't feel ill anymore." Clary said into her mother's chest and Jocelyn laughed deliriously through her tears, making a choking noise as Luke felt a beautiful, relieved smile break across his own face.

Luke suddenly lifted his head and delved into his pocket, pulling out a locket.

Magnus' eyes widened before he hung his head.

_Well that explains a lot._

Magnus watched as the single jewel that represented the cats eye sparkled in the candlelight and Luke clipped it around Clary's neck, the young girl lifted her head and her small hand lifted to her neck as she smiled and Magnus felt her heartbeat settle into a steady thrum against his sternum and he smiled softly too, watching as the small family returned to embracing beside him after exchanging small smiles. When Tessa sniffed from her place by the cracked window Magnus tore his gaze from them to look at his best friend who smiled weakly. He too sniffed as he stood slowly.

All of a sudden Magnus felt his vision black out for a moment and the next thing he knew, a sharp pain shot up his arms and he was on his hands and knees breathing heavily. Tessa suddenly sank down next to him; her hand went to his chin in order to lift his unexpectedly heavy head up. Her eyes widened drastically as she saw that Magnus' own eyes were now the same pitch black as Clary's were previously and sweat beads were beginning to form around his hairline. She said something to him but all he heard was white noise, as his eyes flickered form side to side. He made a shocked noise as the world suddenly became blurry and it tilted in front of his eyes making him feel suddenly nauseous as he collapsed to the floor, landing on his side and feeling his body convulse as he tried to calm his shaking limbs, all the while his mind was screaming in panic, in pain and in realisation.

_Oh god! I absorbed it! I absorbed whatever demonic energy was doing this to her and now…now…oh god._

He tried with all of his might to fathom why his mind was still perfectly intact yet his body was out of control, for he was perfectly aware of every spasm coursing through his body, every flicker of his eyelid, every spark that sporadically flickered at his fingertips.

As his ear was pressed against the worn wooden floorboards of the small bedroom he heard the hurried footsteps of Jocelyn, the heavy ones of Luke and the small, light pattering steps of Clary; but they were magnified, penetrating his skull and shaking his brain making him cry out in pain as his veined hands came to hold his head.

"Magnus!" Luke's voice came into focus as he knelt by the Warlock's side and his sturdy hands grabbed Magnus' shoulder and shook him vigorously, "By the Angel! Come on kid!"

"_Aren't you a warlock?_" Magnus heard Jocelyn frantically asking Tessa who snapped her gaze up from where she had been looking in panic at her best friend.

"Yes! But it's complicated! I'm not _that_ kind of Warlock!" She said desperately, her voice clearly portraying her desire to be able to help her friend as she manoeuvred around Magnus' shivering body to roll him onto his back and cup his face.

"Magnus, look at me!" She ordered fiercely and Magnus, upon hearing the command eventually managed to direct his misty eyes in her direction. "Don't forget Magnus! Don't forget what is important to you, think only of that! Come on Magnus! Think! Remember! _Feel_!" She implored, tears spilling from her eyes as her thumbs gently caressed his cheeks. "Please Magnus! _Feel_! You're not leaving me!" She nearly shouted at him, "No! Not after everything! I finally find you again, after everything, _FINALLY_ and now you do this! No Magnus! NO! Come on!" She began to sob viciously. "_Please?_" She leant forwards and leant her forehead against his sweaty one, not caring in the least about what might happen to her, she just let herself weep.

Jocelyn and Luke watched with tears of horror and misery in their eyes, Jocelyn was covering her mouth with her hand and Luke was looking on at the scene with a look of desolation.

There was a shuffling by Magnus' head.

"Meow?" Clary, who had previously been silent as she looked on in fear, spoke up as her small hand twined itself in Magnus hair. All of the adults looked at her, including Tessa, who lifted her head in hope as Magnus' eyes seemed to clear for a few seconds when he heard her small, sweet voice talking to him.

"Meow, please don't die. _Please_?" She asked softly, seeming to mirror Tessa's earlier plea; yet her soft hand lifted from his ebony locks and rested on his forehead as Tessa sat back on her heels, her hand gripping Magnus' tight. This action prompted Magnus' eyes to close and a soft sigh escaped his lips but the convulsing continued.

Clary frowned and moved further down his body, she leant forwards and rested her face in the dip between his neck and his shoulder.

Immediately, she gasped as her head was wrenched forwards and her forehead collided with Magnus' cheek making him hiss in outrage as his body arched off the ground, taking Clary with him; for their matching pendants had locked together and as everyone watched, dark shadows rose in the air around the duo, forcing Jocelyn, Luke and Tessa to hastily jump backwards.

"Clary!" Jocelyn cried in panic as she gripped Luke who was staring in horror at the scene before him.

It was mesmerising.

But it was also petrifying.

Dark spirits were twisting and screeching as Clary gripped onto Magnus and Magnus gripped onto Clary.

Their eyes locked onto each other's and Clary smiled slightly. She did not panic about the darkness, no. She was looking into Magnus' eyes; his gold-green eyes that covered pages and pages of her art book, the gold-green eyes that showed he was fine. He was her Meow again.

* * *

><p>Tessa knew what was happening.<p>

She saw the lockets combine and become one and saw the dark spirits leap from Magnus' body, whipping around the duo that lay together on the floor.

She saw the jewel in the pendant that they both now wore begin to glow.

Yes. She knew what was happening.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay so yeah you may want to throttle me right now but please desist as i think that suspense is healthy xD Yes anyway, i know that it's all very action packed and nothing seems to be going right currently but i promise you the outsome of the events in this chapter will be good :) THUMBSUP and soon things will calm down, i think that poor Magnus has had enough stress to last him a lifetime :)...well...several lifetimes at least :P<strong>

**LOL**

**So thank you for reading as always and i sincerely apologise for having to keep you waiting for a week or more :(**

**Lots of love,**

**from**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**


	16. Chapter 16

**RIGHTYHO :)**

**Last update for possibly over a week because i felt guilty about leaving it on such a bad cliff-hanger. Now, this may not be very good but it's the best i could come up with tonight :) So yeah, this chapter is sort of a teeny tiny weensy apology chapter but hopefully it will intrigue you and maybe give you a clue as to what happens in the next chapter...So yeah, enjoy :)**

**Read on and enjoy!**

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><p><span>C<span>hapter 16 – Nymphs

Endless whispers of white flickered in the dark, curling around each other and cutting across the endless pit of black, their faces morphing in and out of sight as they ran around, sometimes as wisps, sometimes as themselves…either way, they were joyous…they were free.

Their voices sighed as they drifted upwards and upwards growing in their intense light as they soared, free, untamed, in their own little world, always returning to their sisters sides to continue their dance.

They had once been trapped, contained, used for wrong, chained by the evil, abused…

Until he saved them…

They were eternally grateful; they would forever be free, never to be abused, never to commit evil crimes against their will…

Never again.

They were stronger now, wiser. They had been rid of the preconception that all beings were pure, all men had goodness in their hearts, they knew now that there were some who could not be purified…but the others?…some were pure…and he was one of those few.

They would never forget him.

Never.

They owed him their freedom…

They owed him their lives…

They owed him their sanity…

They owed him everything.

The sisters couldn't forget him.

Not as long as he still lived…

As long as he still lived he would need them…

And when he did…

They would go to him.

For he saved them all…

And they would not forget that…

They would protect him until the very end, because it was their duty.

And do you know what?

They didn't mind one bit.

As they danced, the pulse of the air around them shifted.

A great gust of air sucked the wisps inwards gently before creating a gap that no sister could penetrate as a tiny gold ball of light appeared in the centre of this newly created gap and all sisters halted their dance to surround the ball of light, whispers of panic and worry encompassing them.

They knew what was happening.

They recognised that light, no other person could conjure that light.

He needed them

And so they went.

Willingly.

They had to help him.

Yes, they knew what was happening.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay so toodlepip and i shall see you after my trip to <strong>**CYPRUS**** YAAAYYYYY!**

**Byeee!**

**Lots of love from,**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**


	17. Chapter 17

**...You all hate me don't you?**

**I'm sorry! But as usual my life is so horrendously hectic at the moment...**

**Yes i returned from ****Cyprus**** about...a month ago and i'm sorry i didn't write anything A.S.A.P but **

**A. I had extreme amounts of Jetlag... **

**B. I can't remember but i was probably ill in some way or completely out of creative ideas which is highly likely... **

**C...You're not going to believe me...I've got Laryngitis...yeah so i'm not exactly a happy bunny...in fact i'm a very extremely mucho frustratedo bunny...i have completely lost my voice for the past 2 and a half weeks**

**Read on :)**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 16<span>

_Tessa knew what was happening._

_She saw the lockets combine and become one and saw the dark spirits leap from Magnus' body, whipping around the duo that lay together on the floor._

_She saw the jewel in the pendant that they both now wore begin to glow._

_Yes. She knew what was happening._

The darkness clawed up the walls and Jocelyn screamed in fear, wrestling against Luke's grip to try and run to her daughter's aid.

Tessa saw this and ran, with difficulty, past the shadows to help hold Jocelyn down.

"Jocelyn! Jocelyn, it's okay!" Tessa tried to convince the frantic mother.

"_Okay?_" She screeched, "What is happening to my baby? _Clary_!"

In one harsh movement Jocelyn snapped her elbow back and Luke cried out as it collided with his nose and released the squirming woman who proceeded to jump forwards, only to be caught by Tessa who spun her over and pinned her to the floor.

"_Stop it!_ She's going to be fine!" She yelled over the screeching, trying to subdue Jocelyn who thrashed and screamed to be released.

All noises in the world would have been silenced by what happened next.

A great gust of wind powered through the room and every candle was extinguished, leaving everything pitch black, Tessa couldn't see anything, not even Jocelyn whose wrists she was pinning to the ground and whose heavy breathing she could hear clearly through the loud screeches of the darkness.

Suddenly a bright light exploded in the middle of the room and tendrils of light spread out from the jewel that was embedded in the locket's heart. The strands hung in the air like clouds which flicked in and out, making soft whispering noises as they whipped around in the air gradually growing in size. Tessa let Jocelyn's wrists go and helped the mother to sit up as they both gasped at the lights' beauty their eyes wide in wonder as they clutched each other's arms.

Jocelyn began to smile softly as the light sighed past her head, trailing a gentle, warm hand across her face as a high joyous laughter echoed from within the glow and her mouth dropped open as she saw that the light wasn't just a light, it was far more than that, it was…more than alive. It was the figure of a woman; no; there was more than one woman. They were running around the room, hair flowing as they smiled brilliantly.

"Nymphs." Luke gasped in awe as the spirits skipped around the room, enclosing the darkness in the centre of the room as they danced up into the air and twirled elegantly, laughing lightly in joy as the darkness shied away from them.

A nymph floated over towards Luke, her hair spilling down her back as she leant forwards and rested her cheek against Luke's rough one, heat spread through his face at her touch and the throbbing in his nose stopped at the power of the nymph's touch and he felt a blush creep up his neck as the nymph pressed a soft kiss to his cheek and flitted away to join her sisters in their dance.

They spiralled upwards, their intensity growing and the volume of their mirth increasing as their brightness subdued the gloom. The nymphs shot through the shadows, cutting and slicing through the darkness and twisting around the room, over the adults' heads, twirling Tessa's hair with their fingers and running a gentle hand across her face, another mirroring the action on Jocelyn who shivered as warmth shot through her body again.

Tessa and Jocelyn shared a look before suddenly they were left with only the ringing in their ears and the laughing of the bright spirits after the darkness sank, screaming and wailing in outrage, into the locket.

The nymphs joined hands in their circle of light and slowly, they opened their mouths and a pure, angelic note floated from their mouths as their lights lessened and dwindled until small wisps of light shot outwards towards the walls and the room sprung back into visibility as the candles were reignited.

Jocelyn, Tessa and Luke were left breathless and had almost completely forgotten Magnus and Clary who were sitting upright together, Clary clinging to Magnus as her face was buried in his chest. Magnus' eyes were closed as serenity overtook him, his eyebrows raising as the nymphs' laughter still rang in his ears and warmth spread from his chest as his locket separated from Clary's with a thunk as it fell to his sternum again and he sighed deep and long.

"Magnus, Clary are you both alright?" Luke asked hesitantly, but he knew what the answer was, the nymphs had healed his broken—thanks to Jocelyn—nose. Who knew what else they could heal?

The only response he got was another deep sigh and this one statement from the Warlock:

"I _really_ want to sleep right now."

* * *

><p><strong>So yeah *awkward shuffle of feet* i hope you can forgive me for not writing for this long.<strong>

**Just know that i am so grateful to all of you for actually reading this and reviewing it, it means so much to me and i can never truly tell you the extent of my gratitude.**

**But can I say something? I haven't got nearly as much free time as i used to, i am in my G.C.S.E year and i am actually at a very high pressure school and i spend the majority of my free time doing the ridiculous amounts of homework i am set in school. I know some people have to do more but i would be so grateful if you could be patient with me...I also have to talk to my family once in a while rather than sitting on my computer all day (writing fanfiction and...watching Supernatural ;) Sam Winchester forever people)**

**Btw i have recently set myself up with a tumblr account if you have tumblr too don't hesitate to add me :) I will add you too, I'm fashionnightmare12. tumblr .com**

**Anyways,**

**Have patience,**

**Lots of love,**

**From,**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**


	18. Chapter 18

**Yay! So finally a reasonably sized chapter :)**

**I hope you like this one, i think i do but you may not like the direction this chap goes in towards the end.**

**Just know that nothing REALLY bad happens it's just one tiny thing that kind of popped into my head and i like the idea of :)**

**AAaaaaannnddd i'm rambling :) but i still have laryngitis so that's nearly 4 weeks of no speaking...none at all...nada...zilch...yup...so i need to talk to some people.**

**Okay gogogogo and reeeaaddd :D**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 17<span>

For an immeasurable amount of time no one spoke.

Luke and Jocelyn were gripping each other…looking for something familiar…comforting.

Tessa had opted to flop onto her back staring up at the ceiling with wide eyes as one hand rested on her stomach and her other lay on the floor next to her as if she were searching for something solid that would be able to hold her to reality.

Because, Tessa had seen many things in her life…and that had to have been one of the most indescribable…almost strange? No; that was not the word to be used, because the presence of the nymphs had not seemed unnatural…no…nor did Tessa feel it to be strange…Tessa felt…relieved?

It had been as if the fog had been lifted from her eyes, the light turned on, the secret revealed. She suddenly felt that all of her life their presence had been dancing around the edges of her vision and she had been fighting unknowingly to try and grasp them and keep them close to her, but they had always slipped like smoke through her fingers, skipping away with a joyous laugh, never leaving, just…there. Simply being around her without her ever consciously knowing…until now that is.

It was the most indescribable feeling.

It was one where you knew exactly the sensations that were coursing through your veins, you could pinpoint every spike in your heartbeat; it was when you feel every tiny reaction but you have no idea why you are having it, because nothing around you, no person, no being, no creature, no place could ever make you feel as unstable as Tessa was feeling now that she knew what she hadn't been looking for.

But even that didn't make sense to her.

Her feelings were confusing her and, as her gaze rested on the dark ceiling where odd shapes and shadows flickered, she felt a cloud begin to descend on her and her mind cried out in panic because those feelings were dissipating slowly, but Tessa could feel it.

And she didn't like it.

She clenched her eyes shut and her hands clasped into fists as if they would be able to hold onto the feelings; one on her stomach, one on the floor beside her.

She tried to run them through her mind, every spike in one emotion, every fall in another; every warm, fuzzy feeling she had felt in the past ten minutes. She tried to tell herself what she would tell a stranger, someone who hadn't been there to see this miracle.

But these were her feelings, her immaterial feelings and memories, the kind that last forever if they are significant enough, but also the kind that are so emotionally overwhelming that, even if your life depended on it, if someone were to ask you describe them, you would be left with no words, you would be speechless, completely baffled by your own mind.

And Tessa was staring to get a headache.

A big one.

At first it thrummed dully in her temples—she ignored it as she fiercely tried to hold her own memories and mind together as they were being ripped in half and thrown to the ground, piece by piece—but soon it spread ever so slightly deeper either side of her head, spreading along a nerve that Tessa had not known was in there (she was not a scientist after all, and the anatomy of the brain had never particularly interested her) but she had the impression that whatever nerve, lobe, gland—whatever it was—that was being targeted (by whatever malevolence that had decided to jump on the bandwagon with whatever other evil crap had started this whole chain and had made up its mind to hit her smack bang in the middle of her brain like freight train) was important.

* * *

><p>Jocelyn and Luke's eyes were closed; they were laying peacefully, hands still attached to whatever section of each other they had been clinging to previously; and if anyone had walked in at that moment they would have considered them to be sleeping.<p>

Nothing more, nothing less.

The two adults' minds were in a haze, they did not know the state they were in.

There was no solid thought in their minds.

So they didn't know that when they awoke they would have no recollection of the miracle that had saved the Warlock and the child.

And neither would the child.

But the Warlock would.

And he would be the only one.

* * *

><p>It was as though a lock had suddenly clicked in her mind and the thrumming stopped as she slowly opened her eyes, feeling very light all of a sudden, her small hands now resting flat on the floor either side of her and she swiftly pushed herself into a sitting position.<p>

And for the life of her—even though she looked at every surface with wide eyes, recognised Magnus and Clary and vaguely recognised the two adults in the room and saw the obvious signs of disturbance—even though there was something flitting at the edges of her mind, the smallest memory niggling at the back of her brain, the horrible feeling that she had forgotten something very important, almost life changing, she knew something was out of place and then it hit her…

She didn't know where the hell she was.

And that was never good.

But as she watched, Luke opened his eyes, blinking a couple of times before fixing his glasses which had gone askew as he sat up, trying not to disturb Jocelyn who was lying down next to him…and on top of one of his arms.

Jocelyn stirred in his arms and her striking eyes fluttered open, Tessa could see the confusion in her eyes from here as her head swivelled from side to side.

"Are you okay, Jocelyn?" Luke murmured quietly, he nodded gladly upon hearing Jocelyn's positive murmur, his gaze shifting around the room, scanning for danger. His eyes froze on Tessa and he breathed deep through his nose.

"Are you alright…uh." He trailed off with a frown.

"Tessa, my name is Tessa." She filled in the gap for him and he nodded, "And yes, I'm fine thank you. Are you?"

"I've…certainly been better." He said with a chuckle as he helped Jocelyn sit upright as the woman pushed her fiery hair away from her face. "But yes, I'm alive; I guess that's what counts."

"I'd say so." Came Magnus' weary voice from across the room complete with a wracking cough that made everyone wince.

All heads snapped up to see Magnus standing with a grunt and a hiss of pain, Clary in his arms, as he used the bed next to him to stabilise himself on his weak legs. Tessa, Jocelyn and Luke all watched him warily, not approaching him as they were all still marginally frozen in aftershock.

"Magnus? Are you and Clary…?" Jocelyn didn't finish her question as she stood using Luke's assistance, because it was universally understood that saying the words could jinx it.

Magnus sighed as he stepped forwards slowly, his feet dragging along the rotting, damp wooden floor.

"We're both fine; aren't we Clary?" He said with a small, tired smile as the hand gripping the front of his jacket moved ever so slightly and Clary's head lifted to reveal her small smile. She looked at her mother with clear, green eyes and Jocelyn sighed heavily in relief, leaning into Luke's side as his strong arm went around her shoulders and pulled her into him, which she did with absolutely no fuss. Clary's gaze lingered on the two adults before it switched to Tessa, who gave the child a small grin, and then she buried her face in Magnus' neck.

Magnus smiled slightly and locked eyes with Tessa. She eyed him warily, there was an undercurrent to that smile…there was something not quite right about it, it was not simply a fatigued smile, it was…guilty? Troubled? Whatever it was, Tessa could not put her finger on it, but that was going to be a conversation for another time. Now, he was alive, he was himself, Clary was alive and Clary was herself; _that _was what mattered.

"You're not going to collapse again are you?" She asked warily, "Because I'd really like some notice before that happens, you know, to pad the general area, grab a couple cushions, stop the bruising, protect your pretty face." She finished with a small grin as she clambered to her feet, shocked at how she didn't feel tired, she felt…normal.

But there was that feeling again; why wouldn't she be fine? Nothing had happened to her. Only Magnus and Clary had been affected, but then…that was when it hit her…there was a gap…a gap when something should have happened…she was sure of it…

"Tessa?" Magnus worriedly scrutinised Tessa as her face went from a grin to pondering then to utter confusion and finally to realisation…horrible realisation.

"Tessa what's wrong?" He asked frantically, his heart was pounding in his chest as his wide eyes looked at his best friend.

"I—I can't remember something…something." She finished in a determined whisper. "Magnus, there's a—a _gap_!" She said intensely and watched as Magnus' eyes narrowed.

"I think—Magnus, what happened after you collapsed?" Jocelyn asked with a frown, looking at the Warlock with questioning eyes her voice shaking a bit. "Because I can't remember."

"I—I don't remember anything either." Luke murmured quietly.

Magnus closed his eyes. "Okay—O—Okay." He said after a deep breath opening his eyes to see the three looking at him, Clary's face still nestled in the crook of his neck, but she was very much awake as she had been tugging on a strand of his hair throughout the conversation. "Let's just get out of here and we'll deal with everything later. I can't do this right now, I feel like I'm going to faint if I have to actually use my brain again." He laughed humourlessly, massaging his forehead with the heel of his hand.

"That's probably the best thing anyone's said all day." Luke mused, helping Tessa stand with the help of Jocelyn who then took Clary from Magnus' arms, with a small whine of protest from the child, but she soon settled into her mother, nuzzling the familiar warmth.

* * *

><p>Magnus leant against Luke for support as they descended the rickety stairs slowly, one step at a time.<p>

"Magnus? This doesn't seem right; you're the only one who's tired…we're all fine." Luke said anxiously, his grip tightening on Magnus' waist as the Warlock's arm slipped from the werewolf's neck and he nearly folded to the ground for he had lost all consciousness.

Luke swore and as they broke out into the sunlight on the sidewalk, cars were whizzing past and the familiar sound of car horns blared through their ears.

Tessa quickly hailed a taxi and they piled in, without a moment's hesitation Tessa barked her address and threw a few bills at the driver, her attention instantly being consumed by her unconscious friend.

"Come on Magnus, you'll be okay soon. I promise." She whispered to him as she gripped his hand on one side, Clary doing the same on the other.

* * *

><p>The darkness would have been all consuming had the wisps of light not been flickering around him.<p>

They smiled and embraced him making warmth spread through his body.

"_We are proud of you our saviour."_

They whispered as one, their voices sounding as echoes, all speaking at different paces, their voices all different yet all completely the same; that was just who they were.

"_We are your secret."_

They had told him that many years ago.

"_We must remain so."_

It was their one condition; it was the only thing that could change their view of him; if he were to tell anyone of them then he would be one of _them_, those men, those who bore no respect for them

"_Promise us Magnus. Promise us that we will stay yours; **only **yours."_

And he had promised.

This Warlock was a man of his word and always had been.

Nothing would cause him to be disloyal.

He would do anything if he had promised it.

He would kill someone; trail the world for years searching an object never seen before if he had sworn it…

He would even use his magic against his friends to make them forget…

His secret.

"_We are your secret. We must remain so. Promise us Magnus. Promise us that we will stay yours; **only **yours."_

He may have regretted the actions his promises bound him to.

Yes, there had been occasions where regret had come into the equation.

But now?

Do you really need to ask?

* * *

><p><strong>Okay :) So Happy December everybody, i hope you all have your advent calendars and are enjoying the chocaltey goodness every day :) Mine's a Lindt one :) It's GREAT!<strong>

**Anyways, i hope you like the chapter and understand that Magnus made a promise and Nymphs ARE actually mythical in 'my version of the Shadowhunter World' so he has to keep it a secret :( even if he has to do a bit of mind washing on his friends :'( ...even Clary.**

_**Oh and KIRA KUYU asked whether this was a Clary/Magnus pairing and yes it is, but i will tell you now that it is intended as a romance fic rather than a family/friend fic, it's just that I wanted to show the progression of Magnus' feelings towards Clary so you may not have clocked on to the pairing yet but i hope it shows how it makes the possibility of them (as my best friend would say) 'gettin it ooonnnn' IS a possibility...but YES it is intended for the implication of them being in a relationship to be put out there :)**_

**YAY!**

**Until next time people of earth :P**

**Lots of endless -filled love,**

**From **

**Alicia **

**xxxx**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 18

As his eyes finally opened, Magnus had to catch his breath as the sight that was above him.

He was lying on his back underneath a blanket of stars; each individual phenomenon was picked out against the deep, black sky, shining brighter than Magnus had ever seen any star shine before in his long life. Now that he thought of it every thing around him was magnified, the soft trailing fingertips of the wind had goose bumps rising along his skin, the sky had never been so dark before yet the moon and the stars had never been clearer or brighter in Magnus' entire existence. It was so alien, so…foreign.

It was breathtaking.

His hands moved off his stomach and went to his sides where he felt the soft, familiar feel of grass beneath his fingertips, and he breathed in the smooth scent he was surrounded by, feeling his lungs expand in relief at the fresh, pure fragrance. It had been centuries since he had the pleasure of that smell, one that always stroked the memories of his youth back into all of his senses. He felt so at home in this night, with the only sound from the breeze and the nature he was surrounded by.

He did not know where he was or why he was there, but what he did know was that he didn't mind it one bit as he lay in the soft, embracing grass on this cool evening, the sound of the gentle wind dancing with the tall grass caressing his ears, the watchful angelic stars hovering over him as he let his entire body relax, he gazed up at the stars meditatively, feeling a calm wash over him.

Nothing seemed to want to disturb him here; it was if he was in his own bubble of peace, as if no one else existed in the world. So he just lay there watching the stars blinking at him.

Slowly as he watched, the light of one star that shone towards the right of where Magnus lay began to build in intensity making a small frown appear on his face. Suddenly, its light began to shoot downwards, slicing through the air towards the ground. The Warlock slowly sat up, watching it's descent with apprehension and awe, a frown beginning to form on his face. Before Magnus' eyes it reached the ground with a speed only light could manage.

A great explosion of light shot out in all directions as soon as the star hit the ground down the hill from where Magnus lay, making the Warlock raise his arm to protect his eyes from the bright light and the sudden gust of air that climbed the hill towards him, bending the grass backwards and blowing Magnus' onyx locks back from his face as it continued past him and carried on off into the distance, returning back into the atmosphere.

From behind his arm and his closed eyelids, Magnus could see darkness return to the night, the only light from above coming from the moon and the stars…and the star that had fallen, fallen like an angel.

Gradually, Magnus lowered his arm and squinted down the hill, slowly pushing himself onto his feet, stumbling ever so slightly before he managed to remain standing steadily on both feet.

He was left staring at the spot where the light had collided with the earth, his heart stuttering in his chest. He managed to move one foot forwards before his legs carried him, stumbling forwards, slipping and sliding down the steep and grassy hill towards the burning patch of ground, in the middle of which, stood a small figure, their shadow being the only thing visible past the glow of their skin.

But as he came closer and closer, he saw that the lights he had at first thought to be flames were not what he had expected.

They were flames, yes, all equally distributed and together they made a perfect circle, but at the same time, they weren't the flames Magnus knew, they weren't burning hot, they weren't searching to harm or to char. They weren't even orange or yellow—they were clean white, as if they were made from the most precious clouds, fashioned from the robes of the most beautiful angels, sewn together with the thread of clarity. Magnus had never seen anything so unpolluted, so…pure. As he approached the patch of land he went down on one knee and experimentally, still keeping an eye on the unmoving figure, he quickly passed a hand through the flame and felt an inexplicable feeling rush through him. He thought he heard the sounds of angelic voices singing through his veins and a rush of calm swept over him with such a speed and intensity that tears sprang to his eyes. He blinked them away furiously as he removed his hand and stood up to his full height, his eyes now fixed on the figure, stepping slowly forwards, one foot at a time over fire and the remains of the precious gem like rocks that sparkled green as the light from the flames hit them just right.

When Magnus was arms length from the figure he looked around them, the two were standing in the centre of a perfect circle of fire but the particular pattern and placement of the rocks was so familiar you could have led him around its curves and lines blindfolded and he would have been able to tell you what the pattern symbolised.

And this was a rune.

The rune of remembrance.

Slowly with a frown, he tore his gaze from the surroundings, away from the dark endless fields with their waving grass, to face the figure.

Finally he saw why there was only their shadow visible to him.

The person was surrounded…

By wings.

Great, large, feathery, soft, pure glowing wings that they had curled around their body, but these wings were so thin, and that was why their petite frame could be seen through the soft planes.

Magnus felt tears begin to pool in his eyes as he slowly raised a hand until he felt the soft feathers underneath his fingers.

The wings suddenly shifted, as if the person hidden within them was shifting their shoulders, but they did not seem shocked or scared by the sudden contact.

Magnus dropped his hand to his side as a lone tear fell from his eye; he let out a choked sob as he looked at the rustling bundle of feathers in sad contentment as he spoke.

He was shocked to hear that his speech couldn't be heard out loud, it was as if he were _trying_ to talk out loud but all that he wanted to come out seemed to dissipate into the air, like his words were a part of the wind, a part of an absent train of thought that disappeared as soon as it had come.

But she heard him.

'_Clary.' _

Slowly, her wings opened, spreading out slowly until he saw her curly head of fiery hair, the only thing anywhere around that actually resembled fire with its fury and uncontrollability and then there were her eyes. They slowly opened as if from a long sleep with a cool serenity in them but as they rest upon Magnus they widened in disbelief.

He was frozen to the spot, eyes wide with incredulity, barely even breathing as he stared at her, eyebrows raised as he tried to catch his breath.

This was Clary, but not as he knew her now.

She wasn't the child he knew.

This Clary, standing in front of him was older, possibly fifteen or sixteen…and she was beautiful.

She hadn't grown much that was for sure, she was at least an entire foot smaller than him, but her face had matured beautifully. She had striking cheekbones with a strong jaw and a beautiful smattering of freckles dusted across the bridge of her nose and on her cheekbones. Her hands were nimble and birdlike, much like the rest of her body, her small legs, her small arms and her fragile shoulders.

Magnus was left speechless; he didn't know what to do when she was standing in front of him, looking at him in shock with the appearance of an angel with the wings to match.

His thoughts were running a million miles an hour and they sounded just as loud as his actual speech, it was like he couldn't hide anything here, not even his innermost thoughts were private.

'_Magnus?'_

His heart leapt in his chest at her voice, it was so gentle and pure and so shocked.

'_Oh my—'_

Magnus couldn't even bring himself to finish the sentence but Clary just stared at him.

'_What on earth is going on?' _

Magnus swallowed and frowned shaking his head.

'_This is one hell of a dream.'_

He mused, reaching to scratch the back of his head and refusing to look into the eyes of what his mind had conjured up. Your imagination can be a cruel thing, that statement had never been more true to him.

'_We are dreaming then? Together?'_

Magnus frowned further and looked at Clary who was gazing about them in confusion.

'_I—I, I don't understand what's happening.'_

Magnus was speaking mainly to himself but Clary heard and returned her gaze to look at him in scrutiny.

'_Neither do I. But… isn't this the rune you showed me, from that Book?' _

Now Magnus was confused.

'_What? What book? Clary what are you talking about?' _

Clary looked at him as if he had just told her he was, in fact, not a warlock, but a monkey disguised as a warlock…or something along those lines.

'_The Gray Book, Magnus.'_

She spoke to him earnestly, analysing his every expression with her keen eyes.

'_How do you know of that book?' _

Magnus was panicking now, Clary was never supposed to know of that Book, nor anything to do with his world…not even him.

'_Magnus you're frightening me, what's going on?'_

Clary's words were true, her face showed every trace of fear and worry and she even went to take a step away from him.

Magnus watched this and slowly the cogs began to turn in his head.

'_Clary—' _

He reached out to tell her to stop when a great crack of lightening shattered the calm, ripping through the sky ferociously, making the rain begin to fall as if someone had opened a damn and it plummeted harshly as the wind picked up.

"Meow?"

That voice.

Magnus knew that sweet innocent voice that seemed to be within every gust of wind and every drop of rain making him spin on the spot as her voice could be heard everywhere around him.

'_Magnus?'_

Clary's voice began to sound frantic as she ran to him, making him stand still; clutching his arm as the thunder physically shook the ground they were standing on.

'_Magnus who is that?'_

"Meow? Wake up Meow."

She was pleading with him.

He did not answer either voice but he spun to face the Clary gripping his arms like a lifeline.

'_Clary, what was the date when you fell asleep?'_

Yet again she was looking at him as if he was crazy.

'_Answer me!'_

He gripped her upper arms and shook her slightly, hoping to shake the answer out of her.

'_The 3rd of August!'_

She had to scream to be heard over the roar of the thunder, lightning and the rain pounding the ground around their feet, putting out the flames and slowly one by one peeling the feathers from Clary's wings leaving them bloody and naked.

'_WHAT YEAR?'_

He cried, shaking her harder and harder in desperation. The world seemed to slow down before his eyes until she spoke again.

'_2005!'_

Magnus froze completely, eyes wide.

'_Oh my god!' _

Clary was staring at him in confusion as he stood still, the wind whipping her hair around her face and ripping clumps of the ground up into the air and throwing them across the muddy and slippery fields.

That was until and invisible force seemed to grab Magnus by his hair and dragged him back up the hill as he screamed in pain and desperation.

'_MAGNUS!'_

Clary was screaming for him as she tried to scale the hill towards him, tears falling down her face, slipping in the mud as Magnus thrashed against the force pulling him up and up, mud and grass sticking to him as he was hauled through them.

'_Clary! CLARY!' _

He cried in pain and desperation as the moon's glow retreated, the stars beauty disappeared and he was falling, through the ground and down, down until he didn't know which way was up, every sense every feeling was slowly, ever so slowly, shifting to one of pain, his head hurt as if the lightning was ripping through it, tearing it in two.

As he fell he could see a circle of light above him, getting smaller and smaller.

But before he fell too far he saw a shadow appear in the light and a frantic voice was calling out to him, and her voice was the last thing he heard before he hit the bottom, she was calling his name.

'_Magnus!'_

Her face was the last thing he remembered as he finally reached the end of his fall.


	20. Chapter 20

**Oh good lord I've managed to write another chapter! I am so sorry that it has been such a long time since I've updated but I am studying for my GCSE's and I have no free time for such luxuries as writing my fanfiction :( **

**URGENT: I am going to warn you now, that I am not going to be able to write any more of this fic for a while due to my GCSE's coming up and I want to do as well as I possibly can so I am going to buckle down until they finish on the 20th of June :( I know it's freaking AGES but that is how it has to be. I'm sorry, you can still contact me on tumblr if you so wish :) I will manage to pick messages up in my small amount of spare time A.K.A when I am lying in bed trying (and failing) to sleep :) my url is [www . fashionnightmare12 . tumblr . com] just remove the spaces :) **

**Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter :)– I HAVE EDITED IT SINCE I LAST UPDATED TO MINIMISE THE CONFUSION IN REFERENCE TO THE EVENTS IN THIS CHAPTER. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS DON'T HESITATE TO ASK :)**

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><p><em>I cheated a wee bit in the fact that i have skipped to the year Jocelyn goes missing : so imagine they both went to sleep in 2005 and they had the dream in the previous chapter... if there's too much confusion then i'll rewrite it :)_

_Oh good lord I've managed to write another chapter! I am so sorry that it has been such a long time since I've updated but I am studying for my GCSE's and I have no free time for such luxuries as writing my fanfiction :( _

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><p><span>Chapter 19<span>

_Her face was the last thing he remembered as he finally reached the end of his fall._

The face he saw when he woke up however…was not quite the same.

The face was slightly blurry but the smell of this person was so distinctive Magnus would know it anywhere. Through the blur Magnus could tell that this person was grinning.

He groaned painfully.

"Ugh, I'm having a nightmare."

The grin stretched wider as the blur finally cleared form Magnus' vision and he was met with the wide grin, green skin, horns and all of one Ragnor Fell.

"Nice to see you too handsome."

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><p>Clary woke up, bolting upright in her bed, gasping and sweating profusely, pushing her hair back from her face with shaky hands as she gripped the bed sheets in her other fist her eyes were clenched shut.<p>

The dream had been so…_vivid._ But as all good dreams do, the memory of it, the true meaning and layout of the dream had slipped though her fingers.

Anything and everything important about that dream had ghosted through her fingertips, had caressed her heart, her mind teasingly, and then flitted away without leaving anything for her, only a gap. It was almost painful.

Once she felt her heart-rate slow to its normal, steady thudding she opened her eyes, letting a single tear flow free.

She didn't even lift a hand to wipe it away as she slowly slid out of bed, her feet hitting the ice cold floor which made her jump slightly in shock. She wasn't quite used to the unfamiliar feeling yet.

Tugging an oversized hoodie over her head from where it hung over the back of an armchair, she quietly opened the door to her room…and came face to face with the last person on earth she wanted to at that moment.

Jace.

"Well may I just say that I didn't peg you for a screamer." He smirked ruthlessly, stepping back slightly so as to lean against the opposite wall carelessly, his hair was mussed from sleep and Clary couldn't help but notice that he was without a shirt at that particular moment in time. The white light from the witchlight in his hand illuminated the walls, casting shadows on his face and made his hair and eyes look even more golden; nearly luminous.

_Like cat's eyes._

"Are you okay?" He asked her gently, cocking his head to the side worry clearly displayed on his face.

"Umm, yeah, nightmare's all." She murmured softly, looking directly at the witchlight, its glow reminding her of something she couldn't quite bring to mind.

"Where are you going?" Clary could hear his voice, but her mind was somewhere else entirely, so she didn't respond, she didn't even entirely register what he had asked her.

"Clary?"

"Hello? Clary?"

Still nothing. Jace frowned and pursed his lips in consideration.

"My oh my, I think I'm just going to strip naked as the day I was born and run through the city with my _Seraph Blade_ screaming at the top of my lungs about the 'Demon Apocalypse' and just see how the Mundanes handle that as I jump into the East River and swim back and forth from Manhattan to Brooklyn again and again until I die of fatigue and hypothermia and sink to the bottom of the river, never to be found again. How much fun does that sound? _Dollops_ of it, right? Care to join me?"

There was a long pause as Clary continued to frown in concentration at the witchlight.

"By the Angel Clary, you're really not listening to me are you?" He exclaimed in exasperation, throwing his arms up in the air making the light fly all around the hallway.

Clary's head snapped up and she heard herself whisper something before she realised she was even speaking.

"_Angel_."

Jace frowned momentarily, looking at the small redhead as if she had grown seven new heads.

"Yes…_angel_." He spoke slowly as he observed Clary, "We Shadowhunters use that word quite often you know, I thought you might have noticed that by now…" He trailed off with a crooked grin as Clary shifted embarrassedly, crossing her arms and smiling bitterly.

"Yes well, I'm sorry but how alert do you expect me to be at midnight, your majesty?" As Jace opened his mouth with his trademark cocky grin, Clary held up her hand to stop him, "You know what? I don't want to hear it—I'm going back to bed."

As she turned to go back into her room a hand landed on her shoulder, making her look around and up into Jace's earnest eyes, his body mere inches from hers.

"Clary…are you okay? I mean—after earlier, having them inside your head and all—" He pulled his hand back, running it through his hair as he sighed and shrugged. "It can't have been pleasant."

Clary looked down at the floor momentarily; repressing a shudder at the event he was referring to before taking a deep breath and shrugging.

"It needed to be done. I just wish they could have found more."

Jace nodded understandingly, pursing his lips as silence enveloped them. Jace's heavy breathing being the sole noise in the arched hallway as Clary let herself get lost in thought again, her clouded mind still remaining so despite her attempts to clear it.

"You look exhausted." He murmured quietly, eyes searching Clary's face.

"I _feel_ exhausted." She chuckled breathlessly before clearing her throat and curling her hand around the cool door handle. "I'm going back to bed." She repeated softly.

"That's probably wise, you've got to have your strength for tomorrow if we're going to find the guy who did this," he gestured vaguely towards Clary's head, "to you. Hopefully this Magnus Bane will be who we're looking for."

Clary was silent for a moment before she nodded slowly, her eyes still distant. "He is."

Jace looked at her oddly for a moment before taking a step backwards and scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, we'll see. Get some rest and I'll see you in the morning?"

"Oh, yeah. In the morning." Clary nodded with a small tired smile as Jace grinned and headed back towards his room, the witchlight blinking out as he closed his hand around it, leaving Clary standing in the corridor in pitch black, her mind whirling as she tried to remember why she was suddenly so sure that Magnus Bane was the one they were looking for. She came up with nothing. Yet again.

Heaving a great sigh she went back into her room, her movements slow with fatigue.

She dropped into the bed like a stone and hoped she would be able to remember her dream in sleep.

Everything was so much easier in sleep.

As she closed her eyes in the year of 2005 Clary Fray didn't remember the warlock who idly fiddled with the locket hanging at his throat. The same one that rested on the chest bone of the girl hidden behind the institute walls.

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><p>He sighed as he pushed away from the window he had been looking out of, and he strolled into his living area only to see the other warlock spread out languidly over his sofa.<p>

"It would be much appreciated if you could keep your feet _off _the furniture, Fell."

The other Warlock looked up at his taller companion for a moment, then with a huff and a roll of his eyes, he sat upright watching as Magnus came to sink down next to him, his eyes closing slowly as he exhaled heavily.

"Are you going to tell me what you dreamt about then?" Ragnor broke the silence softly and saw Magnus' brow crease as he picked at the sleeve of his kimono absently.

"It's…so complicated I don't think I even understand what's going on to be honest."

This peaked Ragnor's interest and he raised one perfect eyebrow, turning in his seat to look at the taller Warlock. Magnus looked out of the corner of his eye at Ragnor's expectant look before he sighed in submission.

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><p>There was a moments silence as Ragnor absorbed all that Magnus had told him about the dream.<p>

"So… what you're saying is that…in the dream, you were not you from _now_ but you were you…from the past?" Magnus nodded once. "But…it's wasn't the girl from now either, but it was her… from the _future_? But you were both having this dream in the…_present_?" he stated dubiously.

"That's the only explanation I can come up with. I know we both had the same dream." He yet again twisted the pendant between his fingers, "We were both _there_ in the field as if it were any ordinary dream. But I wasn't _me_, well not the 'me'…_now_." Magnus threw his hands up in the air in frustration and got to his feet. "I don't _know _Ragnor! All I know is that the dream wasn't right. She knew about the book and she recognised me but I haven't seen her in two years so whilst it was the past 'me' it must have been the future 'her'."

Looking at his companion Magnus sighed. He looked extremely confused, but to his credit he scrunched his eyes up and tried to muddle through the haze in his brain.

"Okay. So you were dreaming now, in the present day, but you weren't you in the dream, you were 'you' from at least six years ago, maybe more?" Suddenly Ragnor broke off, with a frown. "Hang on. Wasn't it six years ago that…" he waved his hand vaguely "_you know what_ happened? Do you think it could be relating to that? Maybe something like that is going to happen again."

Magnus looked up sharply before a bitter smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"What? Someone is going to try to kill me, mysteriously saying that 'I'm in the way' Luke is going to jump in and save the day, I'm going to give Maryse Lightwood a heart-attack and Clary's not going to remember me. My heart's going to break and I will go to Tessa for comfort. Later on Clary will be poisoned by a rogue Warlock and I will go to save her only to be poisoned myself and nearly die. When I wake up I will, yet again, shake their hands goodbye and leave until two years on when I will emotionlessly lock the sight away in Clary's mind, wipe Luke and Jocelyn's minds completely and get my payment, trying so hard to ignore what I have been doing to her all this time and just simply do the job and get my money until, when I think all is finally well, like now, Jocelyn will be kidnapped, Clary will be taken by the Shadowhunters, Clary and I will have another dream like this one, the story will unfold, god knows what'll happen and then the whole thing will just repeat, and repeat, and repeat and—"

"_Jesus Christ Magnus_!" Ragnor, who had been watching this all with an open mouth and raised eyebrows, exclaimed, watching as Magnus' chest heaved up and down and he ran a shaky hand through his hair. "What the hell has happened to you?"

"I started to _care_ Ragnor." He muttered under his breath "Hundreds of years and I had begun to loose the sense of…_living_. I didn't care whether I lived or not…because I had nothing to live _for_."

"And now you do." The green Warlock finished with a nod of his head.

Magnus let out one harsh chuckle. "Now look what that's done for me. I'm a wreck. The girl I care for most is always in danger when I'm around. So when I finally distanced myself, everything calmed down, the attacks stopped, _my _life became as peaceful as can be expected when being me. And now this?" He shook his head. "I keep my distance to protect them…and then this happens, I tried to help, but there's only so much you can do when you trail danger everywhere you go."

"Magnus…" Ragnor began with a sigh but was cut off by the other warlock.

"No—I'm fine… let's get back to the matter at hand." Magnus shook his head and sank down onto the large ottoman, holding his head in his hands.

"Okay then. So the overall assumption is that the wires of your and Clary's timelines have been crossed somewhere along the way and that the person you were in your dream was you from the past. We've established that many a time, yes?" He saw Magnus' head bob and so he continued. "Clary mentioned the Gray Book which she's never seen before and she said that _you _showed her the rune for remembrance which was also featured in your dream. Again something you have not shown her…yet." Another nod. "Well, Mags you know I don't necessarily agree with all these symbolic dreams and all that hoo-ha," He made a face as he spoke, absently petting the small cat sat upon his lap at he muddled through his brain for a rational response. He sighed, "But now…I think it seems like the only sensible answer."

"It's been two years so if you were to see her _now_ then she would remember you from then on because the spell will have worn off by now…So it is entirely plausible that you could have been in the dream with the Clary from the very near future."

Magnus groaned as he curled up on the ottoman providing Ragnor with a view of long limbs tangled up and ebony hair spilling over the fabric as Magnus screwed his eyes shut, looking as if it pained him to even think of the dream any longer.

Ragnor decided to give him a break.

"So you haven't seen her since the last time you locked away her sight, huh?" He asked softly, not wanting to dig too deep and cause extra pain for the taller warlock.

"Well, that's the last time I spoke to her face to face, yes. I saw her a few days ago when I went to her apartment but she was leaving as I arrived through the portal. I didn't get a chance to do the spell, but I waited and well…you know the rest after that." His voice sounded so lost, so Ragnor put a supportive hand on the nearest limb to him, he squeezed his knee kindly and felt Magnus relax ever so slightly beneath his touch.

"I've tried to keep my distance, Ragnor. After what happened all that time ago…I made them forget any of it had even happened. Damn near killed me. But it needed to be done. As far as they all know, after the incident when I was attacked, I woke up and all was fine and dandy, there was no visit from the Lightwoods, no hearts were broken, I appeared then after two years as was always organised, I cast the spell and went away, they think that Clary wasn't hurt, Jocelyn and Luke didn't have to take her and go hide in an old Werewolf residence and all was well. They don't know the half of anything that happened. They never will. Those memories won't fight back so I don't have to cast the spell again like I do on Clary."

Magnus sighed heavily and moved to sit upright, hugging his knees to his chest, his haunted eyes flickered up to Ragnor.

"So where does that land us?"

Neither spoke for a while as Magnus crossed his arms and stared at the ground by his feet and Ragnor considered his answer.

A crossover of time. That was what this was. A warning maybe? From something greater than either warlock? That was never good, even in dreams.

But the angel wings? That had to symbolise something. The remembrance rune? All of it had to lock together and make sense somehow but any way Ragnor tried to fit the pieces together it never seemed to make a good combination…

"Okay then…" Ragnor said finally as he pursed his lips and nodded. Magnus looked up now, a hopeful look in his eyes which quickly disappeared when Ragnor fiddled with the tip of one of his horns and said simply, "You're screwed."

Ragnor just shrugged at the warlock whose wide-eyed look turned to a full force glare.

"Wonderful."

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><p><strong>HALLELUJAH AND PRAISE THE LORD! Finally! Well as I said there probably won't be an update for a long time due to my revision etc.<strong>

**But I hope you stay with me until then :)**

**Au revoir and until the next update I hope you are all well and healthy and happy **

**Lots of love from**

**Alicia**

**xxxx**


	21. Chapter 21

***Runs in flailing madly, glomping you all* MY PEOPLE! I've missed you all so much! I finally found the inspiration to update, i hope you all like it and i apologise for the HUGE gap between my updates, exams went really well (i think) but we'll have to wait and see :) I hope you are all very well and happy and that you enjoy this update :D**

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><p><span>Chapter 21<span>

Magnus hadn't slept again that night; his mind was whirring, the cogs spinning too fast for him to follow. So he busied himself with party preparations. He didn't care that his extra attention would mean that this party was going to be ridiculously extravagant. He needed the distraction.

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><p>Clary hadn't slept either, despite her intention and deep desire to. Her thoughts were racing at ten thousand miles and hour and they had given her a headache.<p>

The only thing she could think to do in order to distract herself was to draw. So she sat on the window seat, her favourite drawing pad resting against her legs, moonlight playing across the blank page, twirling a pencil between her fingers, idly chewing on her lower lip as she contemplated what to draw.

Nothing around her took her interest. Everything in the institute was so…dull somehow... '_Mundane even.'_ she thought with a twitch of her lips, _'How ironic.'_

She frowned slightly, releasing her lip as she slowly lowered the pencil to the paper, her eyes closing as she began to let her hand guide the implement where it wanted to go. She just let her hand go, her eyes clenched tight as she felt it shift, the familiar scratching sound of graphite against paper providing a comfort for her. A release.

Clary would never admit that she was often fascinated by her art sometimes. But her hand, at times—she could not say it was her mind that conjured these images, because her mind had never been very deep. She had a keen mind, yes, but never a _deep _mind—created images that needed time and thought to decipher and to appreciate. Clary secretly enjoyed looking at some of her artwork when she had a spare moment, to try and see what she thought the image _meant_ to her. It often meant more than just its surface appeal.

But to fully value it she had to separate herself from her drawings because she could not sit, dissect and appreciate her own work…that seemed to be a little too narcissistic for her taste.

Soon her hand was flying across the paper, depicting graceful curves, harsh lines; all slowly coming together to form something…not beautiful, but…intriguing. Even the parts where all she did was colour in, making those sections deep, dark and bottomless, evoked a sense of something that had been lost to the darkness.

When Clary opened her eyes she was confused by what her hand had drawn.

It had drawn a person. A man. Or boy. She couldn't decide which he was to her eyes because, whilst there was a mix of pure _youth _and _vibrancy_ in so much of his look, the tousled hair which was ruffled stylishly, very boyish, and his mouth, there was also the overpowering _feeling_ of almost wisdom and the sense of…_age_ in the quirk of his eyebrow and the way he seemed to hold himself up to his full height.

This person's full height made him tall, extremely so. She didn't know how she knew, because there was nothing in the picture that she could compare his height to. She just…_knew_. She could not, however, see his entire face, for she had drawn him with his back to the onlooker but the fine sliver of his face that was visible, due to his head being angled as if he were looking back over his shoulder at the intruding observer, showed so much.

Light played across the person's back, showing the way his t-shirt clung to him, the outline of his shoulder blades, the dip of his back between them that ran all the way to his waist. It also stretched across that one strip of his face with the slight quirk of his lips that evoked a self-satisfied nature, very smug but not to a point where you wanted to slap the smugness right out of him. As Clary noted, it was a very slight quirk, easily missed, except if you were _really_ looking for it; and for some reason, Clary was. She also noticed the way his arms bent at the elbows, almost defensively as if he was trying to protect himself. His eyes were…unusual. Not particularly alien to her, for she had always had a fascination with cat's eyes for as long as she could remember and drew them constantly. But they were looking up at her with an almost mournful look. He looked as if he was suffering from a deep, emotional pain and Clary almost felt her heart clench in her chest because it was almost as if she could _feel_ the pain coursing through her veins and rushing through every one of her senses.

Her fingers gently ran over the paper, feeling where it had softened as the dark graphite had provided a thick coating and she tilted her head slightly.

The rest of the page was completely blacked out, Clary having blunted the pencil down until it wouldn't write anymore from excessive use. She absently reminded herself to sharpen it later. But the thing she found the most fascinating was the fact that, all around the person there was a thin strip of the paper which was a clear, untouched, unmarked white, almost as if the person was surrounded by the dark, bottomless pit of darkness, but was also completely separate from it, one and the same almost, and was keeping himself separate through that one little bit of light, of clear and optimistically unscathed and innocent substance.

But it didn't seem to look…quite right.

Slowly, Clary moved her fingers from where they were pressed against the darkness and smudged some of the darkness over the pure white gap and over into the inky darkness of his mass of hair. She blinked, watching this person become a part of the darkness slowly as she smudged more and more of the darkness over onto him, disrupting the peaceful stretch of white, leaving only mere gaps where the paleness peeked out from behind the clouds that Clary had smudged across the page.

She pulled her now black-stained fingertips away from the page, biting her lip contemplatively.

The person in her drawing was now hiding behind clouds of darkness and, looking out of the window she slowly rested her forehead against, she realised that he looked just like the moon did that night; a beauty, pure and unadulterated, being hidden by the dark, menacing clouds that tried to smother the light that shines from it.

Trying to veil its true beauty from the rest of the world by shrouding it in shadows.

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><p>Ragnor stood in the doorway of Magnus' apartment and just stared, blinking.<p>

"This...is...just..._holy crap on a cracker Magnus_, what have you done to your apartment?" He exclaimed, dragging a hand down his face, grinning.

Magnus, who had been looking out of a window, his dark t-shirt clinging to him, looked over his shoulder at Ragnor and his mouth quirked up slightly, his hair mussed by sleep, eyes unmistakeably haunted by lack of sleep and the obvious upset that had been hanging over him since the dream.

"Too much?"

Ragnor raised his eyebrows, looking at the 7 disco balls dangling from the cieling, which reflected the colourful beams from the several lights you would most likely see involved in a Broadway production—or a large rock concert—all crammed into the apartment, suddenly making it look much smaller than it actually was. The brick walls had been coated in glitter and were shimmering seductively along with the owner of the apartment who crooked an eyebrow at his companion who had been silent for a long moment.

Ragnor rolled his eyes.

"No, not at all."

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><p><strong>Well there ya go :D<strong>

**I love you all very much and thank you for sticking with me all this time :)**

**Lots of love from,**

**Alicia **

**xxxx**


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